


Fix-It Miraculously

by Key_and_WolfStar_SCA



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has Conections, Adrien Agreste's Schedule, Adrien believes in fairies, Adrien the Peace Keeper, Alya Césaire Ships It, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Bullying, Celebrities dealing with Stalkers, Claustrophobia, Control Freak Gabriel Agreste, Fighting with Abnormal Weapons, Fix-It, Good Parent Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Identity Reveal, Jounalist Alya Césaire, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Multi, No beta we die like fans, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Protective Chloé Bourgeois, Snowball effect, The Wall of Adrien Agreste, Umbrella Scene (Miraculous Ladybug), Unhelpful Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), but only the adults acknowledge it, except, le Gorille has a name, power addiction, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 208,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Key_and_WolfStar_SCA/pseuds/Key_and_WolfStar_SCA
Summary: My attempt to take the episodic series that is Miraculous Ladybug and put a flowing narrative to it, including both character development and consequences to actions. Likely not an all together original idea, but I hope I manage an enjoyable story out of it anyway.----“That one,” the small black cat sitting on the old man's lap suddenly announced.Master Fu paused on the picture of the young golden haired boy with almond green eyes. “Are you sure?” he pressed.“Positive. That's the one that matched me best,” ze insisted.“Very well,” Master Fu consented. He switched out of the image app and pulled up another instead. This one was a kind of web connecting all the faces he had photos of with different coloured lines in red, green, and blue. He scanned the web a moment before centring it on the boy's image. “The ones best suited to be partnered with him are...”“Doesn't matter to me,” the cat kwami insisted. “That's Sugarcube's business, not mine.”
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois & Alya Césaire, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Sabrina Raincomprix, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 202
Kudos: 52





	1. Origins Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with chapter 1, written in a mere three days once the plot bunny bit too hard for me to ignore any longer. You will notice I use the French names (Le Papillon, le Gorille, etc) for this because I simply like that way better. Also, this is a sort of twin AU, but not majorly. Emilie is taking the place of Amelie, Amelie never existed in this universe. Emilie and Gabriel divorced years ago, with Gabriel getting possession of the older son, Adrien, and Emilie going back to her parents house with the younger twin Felix. The two have grown up from around 4-5 hardly ever seeing each other, and other than passing mentions of him, Felix won't really be part of the story until his episode.
> 
> Also, kwami do not have genders, they do not breed and so do not have any sexual organs at all. Therefore, I'm using gender neutral pronouns to refer to them as. There are not official gender neutral pronouns in English yet, but I looked them up and chose a system that made the most sense to me. 
> 
> **EDIT: On suggestion from a reader, I'm adding a bit of an explanation on the grammatical use of the gender neutral pronouns I'll be using. I chose this system because it sort of combines the masculine and feminine pronouns into one. It takes the "i" out of "his/him" and puts it into "hers/her" so you end up with "hirs/hir", and as for "he/she" which can't be easily combined in the same fashion, it replaces the "h/sh" with a "z" becoming "ze" instead.**

In the beginning, there had been the kwami. Abstract forces materialized as higher dimensional beings that for billions of years affected the universe while never being able to interact with it. But magic existed in this universe for those who trained themselves to be open to it. On a little planet called Earth by its inhabitants, a powerful Chinese sorcerer created magical jewels which could channel the power of the immortal kwami, bestowing extraordinary powers on those who held them.

These jewels were named the Miraculous, and were guarded by a secret sect known as the Order of the Guardians, who bestowed the jewels to worthy individuals. Throughout history these chosen wielders have used these powers to become heroes and fight for the good of the human race. But beyond all others, two Miraculous in particular stand out as the most powerful of all; the earrings of the Red Beetle, which provide the power of creation and good fortune; and the ring of the Black Cat, which grants the power of destruction and bad luck. According to legend, whoever controls both these jewels at the same time, will be granted the ultimate power to rewrite universal history and bend the laws of nature to their every whim.

~*~

In a darkened room, surrounded by the fluttering of white wings, a shadowy figure stood staring at a portrait of a young woman with long golden curls and slanted green eyes. “Nooroo... that ultimate power... I must have it!”

A small lavender fairy-like being drifted through the light of the large ornate round window high above their heads. “But Master, nobody knows where these Miraculous are!”

“I found you though, my little Nooroo,” the man reminded hir. “And what better way to lure out superheroes than creating supervillains?”

As realization dawned on little Nooroo, hir face fell away to a look of horror. “But... Master! The Miraculous are not meant to be used for evil!” ze pleaded.

The man stamped his foot on the ground in rage, like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum and trying to look more threatening and impressive. “I _will_ have this ultimate power!” He clenched one fist by his head and threw his other hand out to point at Nooroo. “Your Miraculous is in _my_ possession! I, therefore, am your Master! And you owe me absolute obedience!”

Trembling fear gave way to crumbling sadness as the little butterfly creature lowered hir head in defeat. “Yes, Master...”

“Nooroo... It is time for the wings of darkness to unfurl! Transform moi!” the man demanded, raising his arms above his head dramatically as the purple creature was sucked into the brooch at his throat. A wave of lavender light later, there stood a figure in a dark purple suit and silver mask laughing maniacally.

~*~

Wayzz awoke with a sudden start at the wave of negative energy that just rippled through the cosmos. Ze knew what that meant. _Oh, poor sweet Nooroo..._ There was no time to waste, every second was crucial if that darkness was already on the move. “My Master! My Master!” Wayzz cried, zipping form hir room in the horn of the antique gramophone. 

Unfortunately for Wayzz, the Guardian of the Miraculous, Wang Fu, was currently with a customer who sat up and looked around at hir cries. As Wayzz zipped hurriedly out of sight once more, Fu hurried to take up the cry. “My Master! My Master!” he looked down at the man, who stared at him in concern. “Chanting,” he was fast to explain, “calling on ancient spirits and deities to help balance your spiritual energies. It's all part of the treatment. My Master! My Master!”

Fu then quickly got up and pulled the man to his feet, before pushing the customer out the door. “Thank you for coming, see you again next week!” as soon as the door swung shut, Master Fu turned a disapproving eye on the turtle kwami. 

“My Master, the Butterfly Miraculous has been activated once again,” Wayzz hastened to explain hirself.

“After all these years? Perhaps we can finally track down its holder...” Master Fu muttered to himself as he reached up to stroke his goatee.

“But Master, the aura is negative. I fear its fallen into the wrong hands!” Wayzz warned.

“Then we absolutely must find Nooroo. If the Butterfly Miraculous was to be used poorly, who knows what misfortunes would befall the world,” Fu pondered, pacing to the centre of the room. “It's time to step in! Wayzz...” Fu attempted a few martial arts poses before his hips gave a loud crack and he doubled over in pain.

Fearful for the old man's sake, Wayzz swooped down to the figure crumpled on the ground, coughing to himself. “Please, Master, be reasonable. You are--”

“Still young!” Fu insisted, cutting the turtle kwami off. “I am only 186 years old!” He pushed himself to his feet, feeling how his hips protested the movement and let out a sigh of defeat. “But, perhaps you are right, Wayzz. I can no longer do this alone, and given the power that the Butterfly Miraculous has, when it comes down to it, there is only one person that we can rely on...”

Fu stepped over to the gramophone, pressing the eyes on a decorative dragon plaque and revealing a small panel of buttons. Without hesitation, the Guardian pressed in a long memorized combination and the gramophone suddenly spun, the turntable flipping open and two finely engraved doors slid open. Finally an old octagonal wooden box with an intricate red crest glowing faintly on the top rose up. Opening the lid, both man and kwami looked down at the five coloured circle surrounding the red and black yin yang in the centre.

“My Master, you can not call only on the Red Beetle Miraculous. They must be kept in balance or else...” Wayzz reminded.

“I know,” Fu reassured. “That is why we are going out to pay a visit to the young potential Guardian recruits to find the most perfect pair...”

~*~

The alarm on her cellphone chirped incessantly, though the young teenaged girl did not stir. The exasperated voice of a woman floated up from somewhere down stairs. “Marinette! Your alarm's been going off for fifteen minutes!”

The girl, Marinette, gave a whimpering moan as she attempted to bury herself under her pillow in order to hide from the world.

“You're going to be late for your first day back at school!” the woman's voice continued in that scolding tone that every mother seems to have perfected by the time their child turns three.

Finding the presence of a pillow over her head to be too suffocating, Marinette pulled it off of her face with an exasperated sigh. “Okay! I'm up!” she called before her mother marched up her stairs and invaded the privacy of her room. She then gave herself a moment to huff and grumble about the unfairness of waking up so early before the chirping phone finally started to get on her nerves.

Reaching to the shelf above her head and fumbling for a moment, Marinette's fingers finally found the plastic casing, only for her grabbing hands to have managed to push the slim phone off the shelf and for it to land squarely on her forehead instead. Flinching at the sudden wack to her face, the young girl let out a suffering sigh and rubbed at the red spot covered by her bangs. She hated mornings, and she hated school, meaning that the first morning of a new school year was the worst thing in all existence.

But knowing if she didn't get up and start getting ready for the day soon her mother would come up to make sure she really was up, Marinette forced herself to sit up and then crawl the rest of the way from under her blankets. Standing up on still sleepy legs, she began to climb down the steps to her loft bed so she could get dressed for the day. Three steps from the bottom, her foot missed and she went the rest of the way to her floor on her backside. Giving a tired groan of a sigh, and knowing from experience that one would leave a bruise, she pushed herself back to her feet and stumbled her way into her on-suite half-bath to relieve herself and brush the tangles from her hair. 

Going to her closet, Marinette opened it and began looking through her clothes to find something appropriately 'first day of school' enough to wear. Though she loved the look of cute skirts, she knew someone like her wouldn't be able to wear one without inevitably giving the whole school at least one panty-shot when she tripped over her own feet, so they were out. She settled instead on a cute pair of bright pink denim capris and a simple white t-shirt and coordinated jacket to go with it. 

She pulled out her top and smiled at it a moment, looking at the cherry blossom pattern under the right collarbone. Last spring she had been in a flower mood, embroidering edges and redoing her room decor. Her sketchbook had a good twenty pages filled both sides with small sketches of flower designs. She had chosen her favourite one and had spent all her saved up allowance getting it professionally silk-screened on to a dozen different articles of otherwise plain clothing in various colours, trying to find the combinations she liked best. She had decided that it would be her company logo, or at least some variation of it, as the whole design was rather large and real logos of major fashion brands were small little tags no bigger than a nickle at the largest.

So perhaps just a single cherry blossom on a chosen background, sort of like her idol company Gabriel just had a stylized purple butterfly made out of semi-circles on white. Perhaps a more abstract type of cherry blossom in that pastel pink on the pale teal blue backdrop that she found so pretty? Her fingers itched to draw and she was already a step towards her sketchbook when her mother's voice called up. “Marinette, breakfast!”

“Coming, Maman!” Marinette called back, pulling on her shirt and jacket and sadly filing away the design idea until she could sketch it during break between classes. She shoved her things in her bag, checked quickly in her vanity mirror that her pigtails were still neat enough after getting dressed, and hurried to the trap door and down into the rest of the house. 

Coming to sit down at the kitchen island where the breakfast things were set out, she poured her milk into her bowl and tapped some cocoa in to make chocolate milk for her porridge. “I bet you anything Chloé will be in my class again,” she complained to her mother.

“Four years in a row, is that possible?” her mother pacified, stirring the porridge that was nearly done.

“With my luck, it's practically guaranteed!” the young teen argued, thudding the cocoa down with extra force to emphasize her point.

Unfortunately, that became the catalyst for a chain reaction as it shook the counter top causing an orange from the fruit bowl to drop onto the table. The orange rolled across the table and up the knife that was leaning against a block of butter before it lost momentum. Marinette lunged to try and catch the orange before it could cause any further chaos, but unfortunately ended up knocking over the milk jug in her haste to grab at the fruit. The milk jug, which she had forgotten to put the lid back on, tipped and landed on the handle of the spoon that had been in the bowl of sugar cubes. The spoon launched a sugar cube across the counter, tipping the open cocoa container onto the floor as Marinette abandoned the lunge for the fruit and instead turned her focus onto straitening the milk jug and getting the cap back on it before all the milk spilled out. Meanwhile, the offending orange in question, after reaching the apex that it's momentum could achieve, rolled back down the knife and into Marinette's yogourt cup, tipping it's contents all over the counter top along with the milk.

The whole thing was over in moments, and all Marinette could do was let out a long suffering sigh and attempt to clean up her mess. “Oh, Marinette...” her mother breathed out in a voice so far passed exasperation. She then put on her smile that she wore when trying not to show annoyance and just filled Marinette's bowl with porridge. “Just leave it dear, it will be faster if I just clean it up. Just finish your breakfast and hurry to school, you don't want to be late.”

As Sabine took out a dishcloth to mop up the milk with, Marinette carefully placed the now-empty cocoa container on the counter and obediently began to eat, eyes downcast in silent shame. Her mother was sweeping up the cocoa powder from the floor and into a dustpan as Marinette finished her breakfast, grabbed her bag, and headed down to the ground floor bakery.

As Marinette entered the room, her father began to sing the first few bars of La Marseillaise as he presented his daughter with a box of 22 green macrons. The box is emblazoned with the new logo for Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie that Marinette had designed for her parents last month. A stylized T and S within a wreath of leaves that resembled the head of a stalk of wheat; something simple yet elegant and eye-catching. Also something Tom had proudly emblazoned on almost everything associated with the shop, including the flour and sugar sacks. Because of course the bread and pastries from Tom & Sabine's would only use freshly ground flour from the mill a few hours out of Paris.

Marinette gasped, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of the macrons. “Papa, they're super pretty!”

“Glad you like them,” Tom replied, closing the lid of the pastry box.

“Thank you Papa, my class will love them! You're the best!” she enthused, taking the pastry box from the gentle giant.

“We're the best,” he corrected, patting her head before reaching over to the counter and flashing her the page that had the sketch she did of the new logo. “Thanks to your amazing designs.” Happily, Marinette reached forward to wrap her small arms around her father's shoulders, accidentally knocking the pastry box from her hand in the process. “Whoops!” Tom exclaimed, catching the box perfectly balanced on his foot before handing it back to her.

Marinette giggled at her father's balancing act, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks, Papa. See you tonight!” Marinette stepped out the front door of the bakery and up to the corner where the crosswalk was, being extra careful as she went to ensure she had the box firmly held with both hands and was walking with measured steps. The last thing she wanted was to trip or drop the box or anything. 

As her parents bakery was across the street from Collège Françoise Dupont, this time of day especially had a lot of traffic driving by. Many parents who's children attended the prestigious school drove their children to class in the morning before heading off to work themselves. Marinette carefully stepped up to the crosswalk with her precious cargo and waited for the signal to change. While everyone else had out their phones, tapping away at them or watching some video or other, Marinette had nothing better to do than look around at the cars and people of her city. 

That was how she noticed him, a little old man in a bright red Hawaiian shirt hobbling along after the pedestrians crossing the other street on a cane. She looked up to the light that was already counting down and realized the old man would never make it across at that speed. A truck, half a block away, didn't look to be slowing down enough to wait for the old man, and so Marinette jumped out in order to hurry the man to safety. Box of macrons balanced on one forearm, she reached her newly freed hand out to the man and escorted him to the curb. 

Sadly, she was walking backwards while doing so in order to keep a proper eye on the elder and make sure she didn't cause him to stumble in her haste to get him to safety. This lead to her not noticing where the curb was until her heals hit it and she toppled over onto her backside. Having let go of the man's hand rather than pull him down with her had also caused her to loosen her grip with her other hand just enough that the force of the fall knocked her box of macrons loose and they tumbled onto the street, several of them falling out onto the sidewalk and breaking.

“Oh, no! What a disaster!” the old Asian man lamented. 

“Oh, it's okay,” Marinette tried to reassure as the light changed and the people going the other way began trotting all over the spilled treats. She hurried to gather up the box before anyone made it into a bigger mess by kicking it over or even stepping in it. “Really, I'm used to it. 'Disaster' is my middle name.” She tilted the box to show him the contents, “Besides, I still have some left!”

He took the gesture as an invitation to take a macron, and took a bite before she could say anything to the contrary. “Mmmh, delicious!” he praised, and she figured the only thing she could do is smile humouringly at the little man. “And thank you, so very much Mademoiselle, for your help.”

“Of course,” she smiled, more genuinely this time. She had missed the light so was probably now going to be a few minutes late, and had lost close to half her macrons, but at least she had helped save a man's life.

As she turned back to watch the light, Master Fu turned the opposite direction, pulling a miniature version of the Miracle Box from his pocket and looking at it before his eyes drifted up to the sign above the bakery. The macron had been delicious, after all, surely the kwami would appreciate a box of such treats?

~*~

Adrien dropped down from his window to the properly manicured grass a story and a half below. He didn't know why there was such a drop, it wasn't like there was anything under his room. But his father had designed the mansion to be artistically arranged both inside and out when he had it built some 20 years ago. It had been decided that the stairwell in the main foyer had to look just so, and so the large room that had originally been a library but ended up his bedroom had to accommodate that by being on the second floor, even if there was no room directly below it.

He had asked once why there was still a solid wall there if there was no room, and had been told by Nathalie all about the need of proper support structures to hold up interior walls. And how ugly and asymmetrical it would have been to just use regularly spaced posts when his father's atelier was on the other side. There were many things in that mansion like that, only made that way to be aesthetically pleasing. Adrien had often fantasized in his youth of how when he inherited the house he would rearrange so many things so the building actually made sense. He knew it might not be as aesthetically pleasing, but he hadn't inherited the artistic side of either of his parents. His brain was much more mathematically wired.

He crept along the wall, mindful of the security cameras watching the property. The longer before anyone knew he was out of the room, the better chance he had of achieving his goal. The month before his best friend had helped him fill out the paperwork to get him enrolled in public school. She had insisted that he was at an age that he needed to start rebelling more, so here he was, dashing out the front gate of the mansion and off to his first day of public school. His excitement swelled at the prospect, how he'd come in and be the new kid like in all the anime, only not really the new kid because Chloé had made sure she'd be enlisted into the same class as him so she could keep an eye on him and show him the ropes. He'd then go on to make a bunch of new friends, probably with people in Chloé's friend-group, and then they'd have all kinds of amazing adventures together full of wacky hijinx and expressive personalities.

It would be great. He couldn't wait.

~*~

Marinette cleared the front doors of the school just as the teacher from another class was about to close them. That meant the second bell had rung already, but thankfully she knew she was in Mlle Bustier's class already. She slipped into the room behind Ivan, many of the classmates still milling around deciding where they would sit or comparing summer breaks. Chloé was in the back, chatting to Kim, and Max was already laying out all of his school supplies in the absolute perfect spots. She noticed a girl sitting up front she didn't recognize as she settled down into her familiar seat from last year.

“Nino, why don't you have a seat in the front row this year?” Mlle Bustier was saying. 

Marinette tried to offer the unmotivated boy a friendly smile as he passed, but was of course ignored as he slumped onto the bench in front of her. Her and Nino had been in the same class since the second year of école, but really had nothing in common and so had never been friends. So of course he would ignore her. Of course.

That's when a hand landed hard on the desk beside her. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” a grating voice called.

“Ugh. Here we go again,” Marinette grumbled to herself, sinking down in her seat, preparing to be subjected to another round of bullying. Just her luck that for four years in a row...

“That's _my_ seat!” the mayor's daughter insisted, her redheaded groupie already moving up behind her.

“But Chloé, this has always been my seat,” Marinette attempted to argue.

“Well now it's not!” Sabrina insisted, already sliding onto the other side of her bench. “New year, new seats!”

“So get up and go sit next to the new girl over there,” Chloé insisted, gesturing to the stranger in the first row.

“Well--” Marinette attempted to say.

However, Chloé just talked over her. “Listen here. Today, Adrien is coming. And since _that_ will be his seat,” she gestured to the spot beside where Nino now sat, “ _this_ is going to be _my_ seat. Get it?”

“Who's Adrien?” Marinette asked, confused.

This caused both of the bullies to burst out into laughter. “I'm dreaming! She doesn't know who Adrien is! Unbelievable! What planet do you live on!?” Chloé belittled.

“He's a super famous model!” Sabrina elaborated.

“And _I_ am his best friend. He adores me,” Chloé bragged. “Go on, move!”

The new girl stepped up, arms crossed and feet planted wide. “Hey! Who elected you Queen of Seats?” she challenged.

“Oh, look Sabrina! We have a vigilante in the class this year,” Chloé cooed mockingly at the girl who dared defy her. Getting right in the other girl's face she asked, “What are you gonna do, super newbie? Shoot beams at me with your glasses?”

“You sure you want to know?” the new girl shot back, refusing to back down. They stared each other down for a moment more before the darker girl shoved her way past the blond to where Marinette was still seated and looking on with awe. “Come on,” the girl insisted, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her up. 

Marinette barely had time to grab her bag from beside her in one hand and her pastry box from off the table in the other before she was pulled full out of her seat and towards the front row. However, their talking back would not be tolerated and so Chloé stuck out a foot as the blunette stumbled past, sending the clumsy girl falling face-first down the steps. Her box fell from her grasp and spilled it's contents all over the floor, only one macron remaining unscathed.

The class burst into mocking laughter at her expense as Chloé triumphantly lowered herself into the newly vacated spot. Mlle Bustier gave that sigh that adults gave when something else got knocked over or dropped or tripped on or ruined by the clumsy and dysfunctional Marinette. That one that said they weren't allowed to be angry, and knew they were supposed to be supportive, but they were just so done with all of it, and at least it wasn't anything expensive this time. Yeah, she knew that sigh well.

“Oh jeez! Are you okay?” the girl panicked, kneeling down to help Marinette pick herself back up.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry...” she muttered as almost a mantra, hurrying to collect the now ruined macrons and drop them in the waste basket at the front.

“Has everyone found a seat?” Mlle Bustier questioned the room now that the drama had ended and her bumbling student had sunk into her new seat.

“It's all good, relax. It's no big deal!” insisted the new girl, trying to lift Marinette's mood once more.

“I suck. I wish I could stand up to Chloé like you...” Marinette countered.

“Like Majestia, you mean,” she pulled up her phone and showed Marinette a picture of the American heroine. It looked like the cover of a comic, and though Marinette had definitely heard of the woman and respected her for the work she did overseas, superheroes weren't really Marinette's thing. “She says all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing!” she then pointed over to Chloé. “Well, that girl over there is evil, and we are the good people. We can't let her get away with it.”

“Er, I don't have any super powers,” Marinette tried to point out, “and that's easier said than done...”

“No way, no worries, starting now all you need is to be more confident, er...” she trailed off, realizing she didn't know her new seatmate's name.

Marinette chose to make a decision. Reaching into her box, she lifted the last macron and broke it in half, offering one of the pieces to the girl she wanted to make her new friend. “Marinette,” she introduced.

“Alya,” the new girl replied, taking the offered half of the treat and each put their piece in their mouths.

While this whole conversation had been going on, Mlle Bustier had started class. “For those of you who don't yet know me, I'm Mlle Bustier. I'll be your homeroom teacher this year...”

Chloé was watching the spot in front of her like a hawk, a fretful pout growing ever more prominent on her face by the minute. “Aww, he's late, he should have been here already!”

~*~

Adrien could see the doors of the school just ahead. They were already closed, but he figured they ought not have locked them in case of emergencies like a fire, or in case of tardy students such as himself. He'd have to remember tomorrow to leave earlier, he had misjudged the amount of time it would take to make it all the way here on foot.

He spotted his chauffeur's car speeding past just as he was reaching the home stretch, le Gorille pulling a sharp u-turn as they surely spotted him. Nathalie jumped out from the back seat, face cross and tone scolding as she called out to him as he reached the bottom steps, “Adrien, no, please! You know full well your father opposes this!”

“But this is what _I_ want!” Adrien challenged passionately, as he turned back to continue up the stairs, he caught sight of an old man laying on the sidewalk, struggling to reach his cane that laid just beyond his grasp. Adrien hesitated, even as Nathalie and le Gorille both stormed after him, intent to return him to that empty house where he would be all alone with his online classes and pre-recorded tutors for his lessons.

But as he saw a person just walk past without even stalling to check if the man was alright, Adrien couldn't bring himself to be so selfish as to turn his back on someone in need. He remembered, after all, his mother's dizzy spells before she had left. He turned away from what he wanted, knowing that it would lead to him being caught and likely punished, but he just kept seeing his mother collapsed on the floor between her vanity and her bed. Too weak to move, even for the pleas and the tears running down round little cheeks from innocent emerald eyes. 

He knelt before the old man, handing him his cane before helping him to his feet properly. “Thank you, young man.” 

Adrien flashed his model smile and turned back around, only to see Nathalie and le Gorille now blocking his path back to the stairs and both looking quite cross. His face fell to nearly a sulky pout and he felt his shoulders sag out of his perfect model posture. Why could nothing ever go his way? He walked up to Nathalie and asked, “All I want is to attend collège like everyone else, what's wrong with that?”

“Your father has already decided that your education is to be conducted through homeschooling,” Nathalie stated.

Adrien sighed and sunk lower into his defeat, “Please don't tell Père about this...” Nathalie merely turned away and headed back to the car, Adrien following behind with le Gorille holding his shoulder to ensure he didn't try to make a break for it again.

~*~

Lunchtime had come and gone to find a little old man sitting alone on a bench within a park. On his lap he held his tablet, swiping through picture after picture of different children ranging in age from ten to around seventeen. There seemed to be no connecting features to any of them that made them worthy of being part of this collection, but there were over two dozen of them in total. 

“That one,” the small black cat sitting on the old man's lap suddenly announced.

Master Fu paused on the picture of the young golden haired boy with almond green eyes. “Are you sure?” he pressed.

“Positive. That's the one that matched me best,” ze insisted.

“Very well,” Master Fu consented. He switched out of the image app and pulled up another instead. This one was a kind of web connecting all the faces he had photos of with different coloured lines in red, green, and blue. He scanned the web a moment before centring it on the boy's image. “The ones best suited to be partnered with him are...” 

“Doesn't matter to me,” the cat kwami insisted. “That's Sugarcube's business, not mine.”

“So be it. I guess Wayzz should deliver your Miraculous now then. The more time you have with the child before the fight begins, the better off everything will be.”

Plagg gave a solemn nod goodbye, “Just try not to die before I get to see you again, old man.”

With that Master Fu slipped the ring from his finger and the kwami disappeared back into the higher plain. Placing the ring into the miniature Miracle Box he had brought along for it, he handed it to the turtle kwami. Wayzz held the box firmly between hir paws, flying strait up well above the height that anyone would notice hir before setting off towards the house that ze knew the newly chosen holder lived in.

Meanwhile, Master Fu opened the other miniature Miracle Box and placed on the earrings within to support the red beetle kwami. He took the eldest of all the kwami delicately within his hands and smiled down at the spotted red creature. “Forgive me, Tikki. I could not risk having both you and Plagg out at the same time while I was inspecting potential holders...”

Tikki shook hir head. “It's fine, Master Fu. I understand full well why you did it the way you did. Plagg's powers of destruction require far more care in choosing for than my powers of creation.”

“But I am afraid we are out of time for you to be able to take a look at your remaining potential holders,” Master Fu lamented.

“That's fine. I trust yours and Wayzz's judgement. Just tell me about each of them and I will choose the one I feel is best,” Tikki insisted, and so Wang Fu began to speak.

~*~

It was nearly the end of the school day, and overall Marinette thought it hadn't gone too poorly. She had only tripped twice more since that incident this morning, and she had managed to get through lunch without spilling anything on herself. And the best part was, when Aurore Boréale, who was in a different class this year, had approached Alya at lunch and informed her how interacting with Marinette was basically social suicide, Alya had stood up for her again, insisting that she'd just have to see about that.

Seriously, Alya was just so cool.

It made Marinette both want to cry and want to do something super cool to impress the other girl back all at the same time every time she thought about it. For the moment she was just focusing on making sure the grin spread across her face wasn't too dopey and weird while keeping her slightly too-glossy eyes blinked clear.

“For those of you who have sports, M D'Argencourt is waiting for you downstairs to go to the stadium,” Mlle Bustier was saying as the bell rang to signal the end of period. “The others can go to the library.”

Towards the back of the room, Kim reached across the isle and handed Ivan a note. Ivan looked down at it for only a moment before his voice raised in anger. “Kiiiiiiiimmm!”

Looking back at the pair in shock as the usually polite boy raised his fist as if to deck his smirking classmate. “Ivan! What is going on?!”

Both boys turned to their teacher with pleading eyes, but only Ivan spoke. “It's Kim! I'm gonna make him taste--”

However, Mlle Bustier cut him off before he could either finish his threat or finish his punch. “Ivan! Go to the principal's office!” she scolded.

For a moment, Ivan looked like he was going to argue before he crumpled up the note in his frustration and threw his bag over his shoulder before stomping off to report as he had been told.

~*~

Within the dark room, the butterfly window opened, stirring a flurry of little white wings. At the centre of the swirling mass stood the holder of the Butterfly Miraculous. “So many negative emotions. Perfect. That's exactly what I need. Sadness, anger...” he reached out a hand and one of the white butterflies landed in his palm. “Infiltrate his heart, my horrible little akuma.” Cupping the butterfly gently between his hands he concentrated and a dark aura appeared before seeping into the tiny butterfly. When he took his hand away again, it had changed colours to a black butterfly with glowing purple highlights like some internal light seeping out through cracks in a black casing. “Go on, now! Fly away! And darken his heart!”

With that the little black butterfly flitted away out through the missing pane of glass in the very centre of the decorative window and out into the world.

~*~

Ivan opened the door to the principal's office, causing the old man to look up sternly. “What is this, young man? Weren't you ever taught to knock before entering? Come on, chop chop chop, let's start over!”

Frustrated, Ivan let out a quiet grunt and rolled his eyes while shaking his head, but still obediently pulled the door closed once more as he stepped out into the hall for a moment to do it again. It was then, however, that the akuma flitted down and attached itself to the wadded up note still clutched in Ivan's fist.

Even as M Damocles called out, “Come on, knock!” Ivan couldn't hear him. Instead he found himself sinking further into his rage. The only sound he could hear for a moment was the ringing of blood rushing through his ears as his vision slowly faded to black around the edges of his sight, going inward and inward until the world looked like he was staring at a pinpoint sized screen playing the image that he had been living in moments ago.

It was only then that he heard it. Another voice so deep and rich and alluring he just felt like he had to listen to it. “ _Stoneheart. I am Le Papillon. I am offering you the power to avenge yourself on those who have hurt you._ ”

“Okay, Papillon,” Ivan consented and the last of his vision faded as he felt himself float away on the waves of revenge.

~*~

M Damocles waited a moment, and then a moment more, but the boy he had sent back out did not knock to re-enter. If the boy was foolish enough to think he could avoid punishment just by running off, he had another thing coming. Preparing to stand in order to go out into the hall himself and give the disrespectful boy a thorough talking to, he called out one last warning, “Well, so, are you knocki--”

He was cut off by the door being knocked right off it's hinges and in stepped a stone golem with glowing yellow eyes. “KIIIIIIMMM!” it cried before stomping forward and jumping out the window behind M Damocles' desk. The startled principal stared down after the monster, who bellowed for Kim once more, already dialing 17.

~*~

Marinette figured that she would take the chance before they settled down to work for study period to give Alya a proper tour of the library, including the best tables to work at if you wanted quiet study time, or where to go if you were looking to do group projects. She was just finishing up her tour and preparing to sit down and start on some of their homework when there was a loud boom that shook the whole room and knocked both girls off their feet.

The students began to panic, screaming and dashing around looking for the closest exit from the room. Alya was quickly up, grabbing Marinette's arm and pulling her towards the front desk of the library. “But, what the--” Marinette started as she was pulled along, only to fall silent as they rounded the corner and saw one of the security monitors pointed to outside detailing a strange rock figure straitening up from a crater its landing had formed in the sidewalk outside.

“What is that?” a boy Marinette didn't know was asking one of the people he was standing next to. 

A bellow of “KIIIIIIIIIIMMM!” was loud enough to be heard all through the school as the monster began stomping off down the street towards the stadium that the rest of the class had been sent to.

“What's happening?!” Marinette questioned in worry, even as most of the students around the pair turned and fled while the coast seemed to be clear. “It sounded like Ivan's voice!”

Alya on the other hand seemed absolutely elated. “That's crazy stuff, he transformed into a _real_ supervillain!” She suddenly pulled out her phone and started checking things on it. “GPS, check. Battery, check. Bye-bye, I'm not here anymore!”

“Hey, where are you going?!” Marinette called in confusion, watching her new friend run away. 

Alya paused at the door to answer, “Where there's supervillains, there's always superheroes! No way I'm missing this!” and with that she was gone.

Lost and confused and suddenly finding herself all alone in the library, Marinette turned back to the screen. The supervillain—was it really a supervillain? It sounded angry, but it sounded like Ivan, and kept bellowing for Kim, who she knew was one of the class bullies who had started something right as the bell was ringing—hadn't gotten very far and was thankfully quite slow moving it seemed. A car screeched to a halt mere feet away from hitting the golem and both the driver and passenger abandoned the vehicle moments before the rock giant hoisted the car into the air and flung it into the school, cutting off the video feed. Marinette winced at the sight, feeling too scared to even try leaving the library until she was sure whatever that thing was was well clear of her path home.

~*~

Nathalie paced along the dining hall as she read off her tablet. After his little runaway attempt that morning, he had been denied time alone. Nathalie was currently going through one of his online tests and filling out the answers for him as she drilled him on each question. “Who was the first president of the 5th French Republic?”

“Everyone thinks it was de Gaulle, but it was actually René Coty before the first elections,” Adrien drawled, bored out of his mind and still moping somewhat over not managing to get into school.

“Excellent, Adrien,” Nathalie praised, at least willing to let him know she approved of his retention if not that morning's actions.

That was when the lesson was interrupted by Gabriel entering the room. “Give us a minute, would you, Nathalie?”

“Yes sir,” Nathalie consented immediately, stepping back from Adrien a few paces.

Gabriel didn't bother moving closer, staying in the doorway at the far side of the room, levelling his son with a stern look. “I have already told you it is out of the question for you to attend collège.”

Adrien's face crumpled, eyes darting to Nathalie who averted her gaze. Impassioned by desperation, Adrien pushed him self to his feet, “But, Père—”

“You have everything you need in this house, I forbid you from going, the outside is way too dangerous,” Gabriel continued as if Adrien hadn't attempted speaking.

“Why do you insist on shutting me off in a cocoon, I'm always alone... why can't I have friends like everyone else?!” Adrien pleaded. 

“Because you are not like everyone else, you are my son, Adrien!” Gabriel shut him down.

But the young model wasn't quite ready to give up arguing the point. “But even Felix attends school, though it's a private one, and Collège Françoise Dupont is highly reputable--”

“I have spoken,” Gabriel cut him off, then turned to Nathalie. “Resume!” he barked before turning and marching off.

Adrien stood for a moment, hunched over the table and fighting tears. “We can leave it there for today if you want,” Nathalie offered kindly, though her tone was still clipped.

Adrien didn't wait for her to change her mind, he just ran from the dining hall and up the stairs to his room where he locked himself in. He paced for several minutes, not even bothering to try fighting the tears of frustration and loneliness that streamed down his face. He knew what his father would say if he saw him right now: too emotional, too much like his mother—though Adrien refused to see that as a bad thing ever—too weak. But right then he didn't care. It wasn't like anyone would ever see him in his room, pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth like some caged animal hoping to find a way out.

He eventually threw himself onto his bed when the tears devolved into all out sobbing and it got too hard to walk properly. He laid there a while more until he heard police sirens and felt a strange thumping that shook his room. Pushing himself up, he went to his window and looked out, seeing a giant stone monster. A police officer called out “On my mark... fire!” and suddenly the stone monster got even bigger.

With a cry of “KIIIIM!” it lifted a police truck into the air and hurtled it down the street.

Baffled by what was going on, Adrien ran to his sofa and vaulted over the back of it, grabbing up the remote and flicking on the TV. It didn't take long for Adrien to locate a news boadcast, the face of the city mayor, M Bourgeois or as Adrien knew him 'Oncle André', filled the screen as he gave a speech to the people of Paris. “I'm asking all Parisians to stay home until this situation is under control.”

As the reporters began clambering to ask their questions, the screen flipped back to the channel's news anchor and a helicopter shot of the stone thing throwing around police cars. “As unbelievable as it may be, it seems a supervillain is spreading terror in Paris. The security forces are trying to take care of this individual.”

“Be confident, the strong arm of the law will come crashing down on the... I mean, the other arm,” a policeman with his arm in a cast was assuring a different reporter elsewhere in the city.

“Is there any news on backup from the League of Heroes showing up?” the reporter asked.

However, Adrien's attention had drifted from the television as he finally took note of the strange, antique looking little box sitting in front of him on the coffee table. Curious on what it could be, as it didn't resemble anything he could think anyone he knew would give him, Adrien reached down and picked the box up. Examining it a moment, taking in the red crest stamped on top and the odd octagonal shape, he opened it, getting a split second view of a ring before it erupted in a ball of green light.

Adrien flinched back from the brightness, covering his eyes, until it faded and a small black kitten-like thing hung in its place. “Wow, cool, like the genie of the lamp!” the young model enthused, coming closer to get a better look.

He was about to poke the sleepy kitten when ze opened hir mouth to speak, “Ah, yeah, I met him. So he grants wishes, no need to make a cheese out of it. Plagg. Nice to meet you!”

Adrien stared in wonder a moment too long it seemed, because Plagg suddenly zipped over to his Foosball table. “This looks good!” Plagg declared, before attempting to take a bite out of one of the 'players' heads. 

“No, don't touch that!” Adrien scolded, running to try and catch the little black cat. But just as he took a swipe to grab hold of hir, Plagg took off flying once more. “Hey, get back here!”

“Oooh!” Plagg cooed as ze approached one of Adrien's arcade machines. “This is shiny, is it edible?” ze questioned, gnawing on the big, bright red handle of the arcade machine's joystick a moment before pulling away and declaring, “Blagh! Not at all.” Ze seemed to wait until Adrien was mid grabbing lunge to dart off again for the next thing with a curious, “And this?”

Adrien was getting fed up. Plagg was amusing hirself trying to eat Adrien's TV remote, but every time he tried to get near hir, ze would zip off somewhere else. No, the speed Adrien could run at wasn't fast enough. Or maybe Plagg was just watching where a human would usually approach from. If he was going to succeed in getting this little kitten under control, Adrien knew he'd have to think outside of the box... like lateral thinking. 

His eyes trailed up his rock climbing wall. He had done it before, moved all his soft furniture around and had fun leaping off just for the exhilaration of the drop. But never that far away, and it wasn't like he could just move his sofa and ask Plagg to get closer to the wall without tipping the little gremlin off on what he was thinking. He eyed the distance carefully, already calculating angle and fall speed even as he began scampering up the wall behind an unsuspecting Plagg. 

When he reached the height he needed, he threw himself off the wall head first without a second thought, already having done the calculations in his head, and caught the surprised kwami soundly in both hands. He laid a moment to get over the blow of his landing, before levelling Plagg with his best accusatory look. “I still don't know what you're doing here!”

“Fine,” Plagg suddenly turned around completely, despite the fact that Adrien was holding hir rather firmly facing the opposite direction. While part of Adrien's brain was trying to calculate how that was possible, Plagg gave him an explanation. “I'm a kwami. I grant powers. You, it's the power of destruction. Got it?”

Adrien shook his head, eyes wide and mouth agape, looking a little on the verge of a breakdown all of a sudden. “Uh-uhn.”

“Alright,” Plagg sighed, turning away from Adrien again. “Do you got anything to eat, I'm starving!”

“It's a joke from Père, is that it?” Adrien asked, pushing himself up to a sitting position. “Wait, that's not possible. He doesn't have any humour.”

Plagg finally phased through Adrien's hands completely, answering one of the questions churning in the blond model's brain at least, and cutting off any further speculation for the moment with an authoritative voice informing him, “You can't ever tell your Père I exist! Or anyone else for that matter!”

“So... what? Like fairies?” Adrien questioned.

“Fairies?” Plagg echoed, not following Adrien's train of thought.

“Yeah, fairies. If you tell anyone you can call them, they won't come back...” Adrien explained, as though it were common knowledge.

“I...” Plagg began, contemplating telling the boy that that's not how fairies work, before changing hir mind and just going with it. “Yes, exactly like that.”

“But... if you grant powers, and I get destruction...” Adrien worried his bottom lip a moment. “Does-does that mean I'm a bad person...?”

Plagg frowned, fully intent to nip that misconception in the bud. “Don't even go there, kid. Destruction isn't any more evil than anything else! Look around you, you think this house came into existence exactly like this? Or do you think trees had to be cut down and rocks had to be broken to build this house into what it is? And what about the food you eat? You think your stomach is evil for digesting it so it can be used to build you instead?”

“I... okay,” Adrien conceded, accepting what the little cat kwami was telling him.

“I am here because of _that_ ,” Plagg insisted, pointing to the television and drawing the attention of his young holder back to the crisis at hand. 

“The rock monster?” 

“Right! I'm here to grant you the power to stop that thing,” Plagg informed, already back to poking around Adrien's huge room. “My Cataclysm will grant you the ability to rapidly age anything you touch to the point where it crumbles and falls apart.”

“Wait, but... how will I eat?! Or drink? Or-or...” Adrien started to panic, holding his hands out before him with a sudden look of terror.

Plagg sighed, “This isn't the King Midas touch, kid. It only happens when you say the magic word, and only when you're transformed,” ze reassured, exploring the space into the on-suite bathroom. Ze found the toothpaste and gave it a lick, before moving on.

Adrien visibly calmed down, “Wait, transformed?”

“Yep, into a superhero,” Plagg nodded, giving the toilet paper an experimental bat, and watching it unfurl towards the floor. Plagg smiled. That looked like it could be fun. Then ze noticed the pile of unopened ones over in the corner.

“But I'm stuck here, I can't even go to collège! What good is a superhero if he can't even get out of his own house?” Adrien fret, coming back to the argument he had with his father probably less than an hour ago. Tears of frustration threatened to sprout in his eyes anew, but he did his best to hold them in, not wanting the kwami to think less of him for it.

“None,” Plagg didn't even bother to hold back. Ze was too busy spreading toilet paper all over Adrien's too-clean room. “That's why all this will soon change. If you want it, of course.”

A chance at freedom? There was no way Adrien would pass up such a thing after all the dreaming he had done. And to get to be a superhero on top of that? It was like every boy's fantasy come true! And yet...

“So, it'll all be up to me to beat the supervillain and save everyone?” Would he be able to do it? What if he messed up and people got hurt or died? Could he take such a thing happening? But then if he didn't take action at all...

“Well, you and your partner,” Plagg cut into his thoughts.

“I get a partner?” Adrien was successfully derailed. He was going to have a friend?

“Yeah, to balance my power is the creation kwami. Our Miraculous are always presented at the same time to a pair who complete each other,” Plagg explained, having finally emptied the toilet paper rolls all over hir new holder's floor and floated up to examine hir work.

Adrien suddenly flushed at this. “You mean, like my soulmate? I'm going to meet the love of my life?! Do-do you know what she's like?”

“Now hold up! There's no guarantee the holder will be a girl!” Plagg tried to forewarn.

“You mean I'm gay?” Adrien asked with so much innocence and honesty that it put the kwami off kilter.

“That...” Plagg started, then put hir forehead into hir paw. And then dove head-first into one of the empty toilet paper rolls because that just seemed so much better of a thing to do right now. “Look, you'll have plenty of time to work that out later. Don't come to me with it, because I don't do all that gross human mushy mating stuff. The point is, that while loads of Cats and Bugs have gotten together, they don't always. It's just the one that makes you the most whole, sometimes that's a lover, sometimes that's like a twin or something...”

“So, it could be Felix?” Adrien suddenly asked.

Plagg froze at that. The kid had a twin? That wasn't good. Plagg had just assumed that because the faces matched what was on the old man's tablet that this was the holder ze was supposed to be with. Was it possible that Plagg had got the wrong one on accident? “Don't know, that depends. Where's Felix now?”

“He lives with Mère over in London,” Adrien explained.

Plagg gave a sigh of relief. “Then no, whoever it is, they live in Paris. But the point still stands, it isn't necessarily a romantic relationship.”

Adrien nodded at this, his face falling slightly. He had been so excited at the prospect of meeting his true love, or barring that getting to spend time with Felix again. But at least a friend would do something to alleviate his loneliness. He looked back to the screen and the rampaging monster being displayed there. If he had a partner, he couldn't just leave them to face such a monster alone. “Right, so how does this work?”

“You know that ring that came in the box? Go put that on, it's your Miraculous. It's what lets you draw on my power.”

“Okay, like this?” Adrien asked as he slid the ring onto his right hand ring finger.

“Then you say 'Transform moi' and bam, I transform you,” Plagg explained, finally sticking hir head out the top of the toilet paper roll.

“Got it! Plagg, Transform moi!” Adrien exclaimed.

“No, wait! I didn't finish explaining to you!” Plagg cried before ze was sucked into the ring. The ring turned from a pewter grey to a black with a neon green paw print on it before a green light washed over Adrien that left behind a black leather suit.

Taking a moment to look him self over, noting especially the sharp claws he now had at the end of his fingers, and the stylish lines added to the cut of the outfit to give it a little more character, he couldn't help but grin. “So cool!”

~*~

Marinette curled up on her computer chair, hiding behind the back of it as she watched the TVi broadcast streamed on her computer in her bedroom. “I hate new school years!” she whined, watching the thing that may or may not be Ivan tearing up Paris. She lowered her eyes, a submissive habit she had adopted from her years of dealing with bullies and noticed a box sitting on her table beside her keyboard that wasn't there when she had sat down to her computer to search for the news.

“What is this doing here?” she questioned the room that should be empty. Carefully picking it up, she noticed it looked a little like a jewellery box, though not at all one that fit the aesthetics of her room, before she opened it to see what was inside. There was a bright pink light that startled Marinette into dropping the box and flinching away. When she looked back again it was just in time to see the light solidifying into the form of a red... thing with a few black spots on its head.

Marinette screamed, kicking her chair away from the computer and cowering by one of the support beams for her loft bed. The thing flew closer to her as Marinette continued her spazzing freak-out. “Wh-what is this thing? A cockroach? A mouse?! A mouseroach?!” she fumbled her way over to her design table, holding on to it for support as her legs trembled under her. 

“No, calm down, don't be scared!” the thing tried to sooth in a high pitched voice. It attempted moving closer again, which was the wrong move as Marinette reached back and grabbed a box of beads from off her table and chucked it across the distance at the strange creature.

She screamed again as the red being dodged the throw, “It talks!” she wailed, throwing more and more things that were easily dodged. When she had thrown everything on the table that she could manage to throw to no avail, she sank to the floor in terror. When the giant furry bug-thing tried to move closer again, Marinette scrambled on all fours to the other side of the beam where she threw a few more things from on her vanity just for good measure.

“Listen, Marinette,” the creature began again, “I know this may seem very strange to you, but...” Marinette managed to get her water glass in her hands and with a lunge she slammed it down over top of... whatever this thing was. It blinked, taking in this new state before letting out a sigh. “Alright, if this can reassure you...”

“Who are you? And how do you know my name!?” Marinette demanded, feeling her chest tighten like it does when she's about to get a panic attack. Her breath was coming in shallow, fast little gasps as she eyed this creature that made no sense.

“I am a kwami, and my name is Tikki,” Tikki introduced in a gentle, almost mothering tone. “I'll explain everything to you.”

Marinette tried to calm her breathing, but it wasn't really working. School was full of bullies, and she was always alone, and there was a monster that just showed up that may or may not be one of her classmates, and it was targeting another classmate who was also a bully when she thought about it, and then she was just sure it would come after her next because that was just such her luck, and this weird kwami thing showed up, and knows her name, and how does it know that has it been watching her how many others had been watching her are they watching her now, and she was such a disaster all the time, and--

She felt like she was going to start choking any second. She needed help. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do anything. Tears welled at the edges of her eyes as panic started mounting more and more inside her. She needed help. She needed someone. Someone else would know how to deal with this. She took the biggest breath she could manage, ignoring how it made her lungs burn. Everything right now would make them burn. And then she called as loud as she could manage, “Maman!”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Tikki tried to insist as Marinette fumbled for the handle of her trap door.

“Papa!” Marinette tried again, though her voice squeaked out hardly any louder than her normal talking voice, despite trying to cry at the top of her lungs. She just couldn't get the breath like this. Her fingers finally blindly finding the handle to her trap door and curling around it to pull open.

“No!” Tikki whisper shouted, phasing through the glass to place herself between Marinette and her way out. “I'm your friend, Marinette! You have to trust me! You're the only one who can stop the akuma!”

Marinette looked with wide, terrified eyes, from Tikki to the now empty glass and back again. She slowly let go of the door handle and sank back on her heals, letting out a long sound that resembled air being let loose from a balloon. She inched very slowly away as she tried to concentrate on anything within her racing head. What had the doctors said about dealing with panic attacks? Focus on something. Something small and very specific and slowly work through the problem from that. So Marinette latched on to the first question that her racing thoughts could materialize.

“A-akuma...?”

“Yes, the dark force that corrupted that poor boy and turned him into a stone monster,” Tikki elaborated, glad hir new holder was at last finally willing to listen.

“You-you mean...” Marinette gulped hard, struggling to catch her breath once more, “that really is Ivan?”

“Oh, he's a friend of yours?” Tikki's heart went out to the poor girl. Having to battle friends was always hard, but for it to be the case that the very first battle was against a friend...

Marinette, on the other hand, just thought back to her classmates. The mocking laughs every time she stumbled, the ignoring eyes that refused to meet hers, the quiet whispers that followed her when she walked. “I... I wouldn't say 'friend', but-but I do _know_ him... He's in my class...”

“I see,” Tikki soothed, seeming on some level to understand that things weren't quite right. “If you use your superpowers, you'll be able to cleanse the akuma and your classmate can return to normal.”

And then Marinette's brain broke. “Wait, hold on, hold on! This must be some mistake! The only superpower I could possibly have is super-clumsiness! Wait! I know! Alya! _She'd_ like it! She's my friend, well I'm saying that, but I'm not sure... But she adores superheroes! She talked all lunch about them! She'd be perfect for this job, you should go see her,” she tried to convince.

“Marinette, you are the chosen one!” Tikki cut off, rejecting that line of thought outright. 'Alya' was not one of the names bound by fate to Plagg's chosen, and anything else could be downright disastrous! They would never be able to balance themselves properly and ze didn't want another few hundred years of bloodshed and starvation like what happened when they tried that in Japan a millennia or so back.

“You're the only one that can do this, the only one that can save the day!” Tikki insisted, but noticed Marinette start to panic again and so hurried on. “It'll be okay, I'll grant you a magic spell, 'Lucky Charm', that will ensure your victory every time! But you'll have to be careful when you use it because you can only use it once per battle and will only have five minutes after using it before your transformation will wear off.”

“Like Cinderella and the pumpkin...” Marinette murmured out.

“Right, and you have to find somewhere to hide before you change back, because if anyone knows your real identity...” Tikki forewarned.

“I know, secret identities are secret for a reason. I may not be too into superheroes, but at least I know that much. But are you sure I can do this? I'm a major klutz!” 

“Marinette, I am the embodiment of creation and good luck. So long as I'm with you, you won't have to worry about a little thing like clumsiness. Even if you do trip and fall, it will always go your way,” Tikki promised.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths, Marinette readied herself. “Okay... okay,” she let out breathlessly as she finally walked back over to the box and found a pair of stud earrings inside. A few more breaths and she started putting them in her ears. “So, all I have to do is break the object where the whatchama-call-it is hiding?” she verified.

“It's called an akuma. Which you must capture,” Tikki reminded.

“Got it. Capture it,” Marinette tried to keep up as she looked at her too-pale face in the mirror. “And what's that charm thing again?”

“Lucky Charm! It's your secret superpower!”

“Aww... this is all going too fast, Tikki... I... won't be able to pull this off!” Marinette whined.

“Trust yourself, Marinette. Just say 'Transform moi'!”

“Transform moi?” Marinette asked, only intending to ask about it, but instead Tikki was sucked into her earrings and a pink light enveloped her. “Whoa! What is happening?!” she panicked as the light washed over her and left her standing in a full-body one-piece suit. 

~*~

Master Wang Fu stared down at all the empty spaces within the Miracle Box it was his job to guard. “Do you think they'll be up to it, Master?” Wayzz questioned from over his shoulder, though he didn't bother to turn and make eye contact.

“I have made only one true mistake in my life,” Master Fu said in way of an answer. “I will not make another...”

“At least, I hope,” he amended after a pause as he slowly closed the lid on his Miracle Box. He gave an extra little push and watched it sink back down into the gramophone, the two decorative doors sliding shut, and then the turntable flipping down over the whole thing. Finally with one last quarter turn, the hole thing locked shut and the Guardian turned away.

~*~

Marinette looked into her full-length mirror and blinked. She... supposed this was what a superhero looked like? The outfit was nearly completely red with black around her neck and black polka dots over the rest of her. She also had a matching yo-yo wrapped around her waist. The material wasn't one she recognized, a sort of strange almost rubber-like texture made of tiny interlocking hexagons that were only actually noticeable if one looked very closely. But most unexpected of all was that she felt a strange sort of calm and confidence flow through her which she knew wasn't from her.

It felt nice, but at the same time she knew that the moment it faded she would feel mortified about being dressed head-to-toe in a bright red skin-tight rubber-like suit. She couldn't do this after all. She had to change now before anyone saw her like this. “No way, how do I get out of this thing?! Tikki! If you can hear me, I want my clothes back, I'm not going anywhere like this!”

She tried to listen for Tikki for a moment, but all she heard was the news still streaming on her computer. “ _After destroying Chatelet tower, the monster calling itself Stoneheart is now heading for the Tour Montparnasse!_ ” Nadja Chamack's voice came over the speakers. It caused Marinette to look to the screen in worry, watching Ivan, much bigger now than he had been before, walking his way down the street. “The monster seems unreachable!”

But Marinette's eyes then focused in on one detail that Mme Chamack seemed to be ignoring: a troublingly familiar figure on a bike following after Stoneheart. “Alya?”

But before she could dwell on the sight and her worry over her new friend—were they? She hoped they were—the voice of her mother carried up from the floor below. “Marinette, are you home?”

“Argh, dang, Maman, that's all I need!” Marinette freaked, dashing up the steps to her loft bed. The last thing she needed was her mother walking in seeing her dressed as a superhero. It was embarrassing enough to think strangers would be seeing her in this get-up, she couldn't imagine how traumatizing it would be if people she had to see every day for the rest of her life saw her like this. 

She managed to squeeze herself as silently as she could manage out her skylight just as her mother pushed open her trap door and poked her head up. The last thing she heard before easing the skylight shut again was her mother's voice calling, “Marinette, are you here? Tom, we need to call the school!” She felt a wave of guilt for worrying her parents unduly, until she realized it probably wasn't unduly, just that they wouldn't know the girl in red spandex fighting the giant monster was their baby.

Speaking of which, she should probably get to work before something happened to Alya.

“Okay, I have super powers, or so I was told, I also have a super yo-yo...” she said, running inventory of her resources as she gave her yo-yo a few experimental bobs. She tossed it out, almost on instinct, towards the Paris skyline. It shot for what had to be several hundred meters, if not a full kilometre, before getting stuck on something. Giving a few tugs to try and dislodge it, suddenly caused the string to retract and drag poor Marinette off her balcony.

Being dragged through the air at break-neck speeds, screaming in panic, and clinging to a little string as she was pulled along was bad enough. But when she came even with what her yo-yo had snagged on—a gargoyle head of all things—she didn't come to a stop like she had thought she would. Not even to a messy end on the side of the building she had been hurtling towards. No, the trajectory and momentum she had achieved sent her sailing strait over the roof of that building and on past it without even slowing down. And worse off, the new angle had managed to dislodge her yo-yo which now sailed along behind her.

Yes, being dragged to the building had been bad enough, but it was nothing compared to free-falling and flailing at break-neck speeds completely uncontrolled in an ever descending arc to what was surely her untimely death and a very short relationship with the city pavement.

But suddenly there was a boy in her path, walking tightrope on something she couldn't quite make out, and dressed in a skin-tight leather cat suit. And then he was looking up at her, as shocked as she was to see him as she shrieked in her panicked descent. And then his arms were reaching up as though intending to catch her, were around her even as her weight and momentum threw both of them off of the metal stick he had been standing on. 

And then, before anything could really register, they were tangled in the string of her yo-yo, tied hip to hip and hanging upside-down a good three feet off the ground.

And the first thought he could think was: _Wow, she's gorgeous..._ followed quickly by _She smells delicious_ and _God, don't screw this up!_

He smiled his best charming-model smile, his inhuman green eyes sparkling with a hidden mischief, and said, “Hi, you can say I'm glad you dropped by.”

She returned his smile with a nervous, shy grin of her own and hurried to blurt, “I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose!” It took a minute to get them untangled so they could get down, which embarrassingly included quite a bit of her having to wrap her arms around his lean midsection over and over again, though thankfully he didn't seem bothered by that. He just watched her work quietly with a patient smile gracing his lips. At least this strange cat-boy—superhero?—didn't seem too critical of the fact she was an absolute mess.

When they were finally freed, he dropped easily to his hands, then rolled forward into a crouch before standing up smoothly. She, on the other hand just sort of flopped, with her hands still on her yo-yo string and gravity taking over where it felt her legs belonged. He politely ignored her lack of grace, taking a step back and placing his hands on his hips in a superhero pose and smiled at her confidently.

“You must be the partner my kwami told me about! I'm...” he turned away for a moment, bringing one clawed glove to his chin in thought. “Mmmm Chat Noir!” he decided, turning back to Marinette once again. “Yes, Chat Noir! And you?”

“And me, I'm Ma--” she started to say out of habit, half distracted as she pulled at her yo-yo string to get it down from where it was wrapped around the metal bar, before she caught herself and remembered she couldn't tell him her real name. Suddenly the metal bar contracted to being only about the length of a ruler and though she reached up to catch them as she tried to think of something to say that started with 'ma' instead of her real name, they both landed squarely on Chat Noir's head. “Er, I'm... maladroite... I'm so terribly maladroite...” she finished, her tone taking on an apologetic note.

He forced a smile through the pain as he finally stopped rubbing the lump and bent to grab the baton. “Don't worry, Miss Maladroite! I'm starting out too!”

Marinette started at that. Did he just... did he just flirt? No, surely he was only trying to reassure her, which was very nice of him, she might add, and not--

The ground shook with a loud boom that had them both jumping and looking up in surprise. Probably some ten blocks away, a skyscraper tilted, tipped, and then fell in a billowing of smoke. Without any further prompting, Chat Noir extended his baton into a vaulting stick and shot himself up onto the nearest roof in that direction. Marinette reached after him in shock, “Hey, where are you going?!”

He looked back from the rooftop and called down to her, “To save Paris, no?!” before darting off beyond her line of sight.

Marinette fretted for a moment, looking down at her troublesome yo-yo. “I believe in myself...” she whispered, trying to gain strength in Tikki's words earlier. “I believe in myself...” her mind supplied the image of Alya biking head-long into danger she wasn't equipped to handle. “I believe in myself...” she repeated for the last time, swinging her yo-yo around before flinging it off in the direction of the destruction and her new partner. And then away she was dragged, screaming once again.

~*~

Within Parc des Princes, the students cleaned up after their sports lesson, unaware of the danger the rest of Paris had been fretting about this last hour. They had heard a few distant booms that no one could explain, but hadn't had a reason to think anything of it. But suddenly a boom erupted far too close for comfort and an angry bellow of “KIIIIIM!!” filled the air. They all looked up to see Stoneheart, a good twenty feet tall at least, glaring down from atop the stadium wall. “So, now, who's the scaredy cat?!” the akuma accused in Ivan's voice.

The class ran screaming towards the doors on the opposite side of the field and Stoneheart leapt down to give chase. But he was slow, speed only really coming from the sheer size giving distance to each step, and the class had been half-way across the field from the start. So even when Kim lost his balance and skidded to a halt on his belly in the grass, Chat Noir still had the speed to swoop in for a last-second rescue.

“Hey, you should pick on someone your own size!” Chat scolded as Kim got up and ran away.

“I bet you're talking about yourself here, huh?” Stoneheart countered before taking a swipe at Chat Noir. However the large lumbering size left the akuma too slow to catch the teen hero, who bounced around the grabs by a good margin. 

~*~

Within the dark room, Le Papillon watched through the akuma's eyes with a smile. He raised his arms out wide as he began to monologue. “Everything is going according to plan. The Miraculous of the Black Cat and Red Beetle are back. They rushed here to protect the population and now my supervillain will crush them!”

~*~

Within the stadium, Chat Noir continued to dodge the onslaught. Though not tired yet, he knew even he couldn't keep this up indefinitely and sooner or later he would mess up and take a dangerous hit. So when he spotted an opening, he launched himself forward to begin his counter attack. However, his downward strike to Stoneheart's head did not have the desired effect as instead of causing the giant golem to stumble, or even just have no noticeable effect at all, it began to glow a yellow colour from between the seems where the rocks met and grew several feet larger.

Stoneheart turned, seeming angrier than before, and suddenly Chat Noir felt very small, not unlike the feeling he felt when facing his father's fury, like nothing he could do or say would help. “Where are you, partner?” he questioned quietly to himself, even as he lunged back into action. It wasn't like he had much of a choice at this point, he was a superhero now and this is what superheroes do.

Up above on the stadium wall, Marinette watched quivering in fear. “I can't go, I can't do it...” she nearly cried, feeling the teetering sensation of another panic attack about to hit. The calm confidence from before seemed to struggle against it, but she had never had success dealing with these states before.

Down below, Stoneheart grabbed one of the goal nets off the grass and threw it at Chat Noir. He dodged it, but it bounced off the ground and strait over top of Alya who was crouched to one side filming the fight. Realizing a civilian was in danger, Chat threw his baton, which extended across the gate and blocked the net from landing on the girl; however, it also left Chat distracted and disarmed, a state that Stoneheart took advantage of. Catching the cat-boy in his fist, Stoneheart grinned as he squeezed with a strength that the struggling Chat could not break free of.

“What are you waiting for, coccinelle-girl?!” Alya pleaded at Marinette for the sake of the hero who got caught because he saved her life. “Everyone's counting on you!”

And that was it. If she didn't do this, people would be hurt. People would die. The boy that had been so patient and understanding with her would die. There wasn't time for her to freak out right now, she had to put herself aside and act for everyone's sake. She had to because there were things so much bigger and more important than her own fear.

And so, with nothing left to do but just trust herself and move, she leapt off the wall of the stadium and let her yo-yo fly. It wrapped around Stoneheart's shins, and she was pulled down into a slide that took her between his legs under the string of her yo-yo and several meters past him. Standing up and holding the string taunt, Marinette quipped, “It's not nice to abuse animals!” before yanking her string with all her might. 

This forced Stoneheart's feet together, and with such a top-heavy design, being supported by only a single narrow base caused him to fall over. Further, in his flailing attempt to regain balance and prevent his fall, Stoneheart flung Chat Noir away. The cat-boy tumbled to a stop upside-down in the goal net at the far end of the field, and Marinette raced over to ensure her partner was okay.

However, he was already on his feet by the time she reached him and looking no worse for the wear, so she instead focused on the other concern. “Sorry I took so much time, Chat Noir.”

He shot her a smile as he cracked his knuckles, “No worries, coccinelle-girl. And now, let's break some rock!” 

He attempted to charge in once again bare-handed, but Marinette grabbed the leather belt hanging from his waist that mimicked a tail in order to stop his reckless charge. “Wait, didn't you notice?” Marinette insisted as he pouted back at her over his shoulder. She let go of his tail and because he had been leaning at close to a forty-five degree angle he nearly face planted, but barely caught himself in time. “Each strike makes him bigger and stronger, we need to find another approach.”

“Yes, that is to say?” he questioned, petting his tail-belt as if it were a real tail that had been manhandled and now required soothing. 

“Er... I don't know...” Marinette admitted, struggling to think of something.

“Okay, then let's use our powers!” Chat Noir suggested, turning and readying himself to attack again. “Cataclysm!” he cried, and both were momentarily distracted by the black spots that began dancing around his right hand. “Apparently, I can destroy everything I touch!” he half explained and half bragged to his partner.

“Me, I don't need super powers to destroy everything...” Marinette grumbled, turning her gaze away. Curious as his namesake, Chat Noir reached over to test his powers against the beam of the goal net. Even as Marinette cried, “No, don't do that!” the metal rusted under his hand, spreading outwards to the rest of the beam and to the net that turned brittle and flaked away like ash. The whole thing had crumbled by the time she had gotten her warning out.

The brave, exuberant boy grinned and exclaimed, “Cool!” before getting serious once more. “And now, for the two of us! Say your goodbyes, walking rock!” he called as he charged confidently at the akuma that had managed to get back to his feet and start towards the teen heroes once more.

“Chat Noir, wait!” Marinette tried to warn again, but her partner just launched himself into a leap that ended with his right hand flat against Stoneheart's foot. 

Everyone paused for a beat, but when nothing happened Chat tried tapping his hand against the foot a few more times. Realizing his mistake, Chat Noir put on his cutest look in his model repituar. “Uh-oh. I'm under the impression it's a one-time use power...” Chat even had the gall to wave at Stoneheart bashfully as the akuma reached back his leg and kicked Chat back across the field to where Marinette stood worrying.

As soon as she realized he wasn't hurt, Marinette started in with the scolding, “And after that, you have five minutes left before you detransform, did your kwami not explain anything to you or what?”

Not liking the pretty girl who was his soulmate being cross with him, Chat Noir bashfully pulled a nonchalant pose and tried to smile charmingly. “Erm, it seems I was in too much of a hurry to start to listen to him!”

Her judging stare gave way to an eye-roll as she turned her attention back to the problem at hand. “Okay, my turn. Lucky Charm!” she threw her yo-yo up into the air and it let off a wave of ladybugs that flew together and merged to create a red and black spotted wet-suit.

“Awesome, your power!” Chat teased.

“My kwami told me we need to break the object the 'esskuma' hid in. Er, no, I mean, the akuma,” Marinette rambled as she eyed the object her Lucky Charm produced. How would something like this even help? Tikki had promised it would ensure her a victory, she just needed to figure out how. There had to be something she was missing.

“Except that here, he doesn't have anything on him, he's all stone,” Chat Noir pointed out.

“Do you see his hand? He's keeping it closed. He never opens it!” Marinette realized. “It's like the Russian dolls! The object is not on him, it's hidden in his fist!”

“And what's your plan?” Chat Noir asked, an air of wonder colouring his expression and tone alike.

Her eyes scanned around them, taking in everything she could see. She noticed a hose at their feet and followed it back to its source. Not more than a few feet from Alya there was a faucet the hose was connected to. But to get the hand open she'd need Stoneheart to have to make a grab with that hand. And for him to make a grab, the other hand would have to already be occupied and the thing he was grabbing at worth dropping the akumatized item. And then in order to get the hand open again...

“This!” she finally announced, tying the head of the wet-suit so the hose pointed inside and wouldn't come loose if jostled a little. She then wrapped her yo-yo around Chat Noir's legs and told him, “Go with the flow, trust me.” She then flung Chat Noir strait at Stoneheart, who predictably caught the hero with his free hand. Then, leaping in herself, brandishing her Lucky Charm, she challenged, “You won't catch me!”

As predicted, Stoneheart let go of what was clutched in his other hand and a dark purple ball dropped free before his fist closed around the girl and the suit instead. Chat Noir was still eyeing her in confusion, but everything was going to Marinette's plan. “Now... Alya! Turn on the tap!”

The civilian startled slightly at suddenly being directly addressed, but quickly looked around to do as asked. Sprinting over, Alya quickly cranked the tap on as far as it would go. A moment later the wet-suit began to swell and swell until it forced Stoneheart's grasp open and Marinette could jump to freedom. At once, Marinette dashed for the little purple stone that had dropped and once she reached it she wasted no time stamping her heal down as hard as she could, crushing the stone into pieces. 

Marinette stepped back in surprise as a little purple butterfly materialized out of the fragments of stone and frantically started fluttering away. _Was that... an akuma?_ Before she could focus on that for more than a moment, the golem turned to a black bubbly, cloudy like substance that disintegrated away leaving Marinette's large classmate and cat-boy partner behind sitting on the grass.

After a moment of looking around at the last of the vanishing rock, Chat Noir turned his eyes full of naked awe and admiration towards his partner. “This girl is awesome... She's mad awesome!” he whispered to himself. How lucky was he to have such an amazing girl for a soulmate? He really could see himself loving such a clever girl for the rest of his life.

Marinette, oblivious to the love struck look being levelled at her by her partner, grinned brightly at the job successfully completed as last of all the akumatized item reverted to a simple scrunched up paper ball. She did it. She had actually managed to do it against all odds! This was so cool. This was absolutely amazing! Her! The chronically clumsy girl who couldn't walk ten feet without disaster striking just saved all of Paris from a supervillain!

“...What am I doing here?” Ivan's groggy voice drew Marinette's attention and she looked on a moment as the large boy gathered his bearings.

Then, Chat Noir approached her, a strange grin splitting his face almost ear to ear. He looked nearly as elated as she herself felt, but there seemed to be a little something extra to his grin she couldn't place. “You were amazing Miss... er, coccinelle,” he practically gushed, his fanboying only letting up slightly at the realization that he still didn't actually know her name. “You rocked it!”

“We both rocked it, partner!” she assured, feeling slightly flustered by his ardent praise and wishing to redirect some of the focus. She held up her fist and he was fast to catch on, mirrored grins as they chorused “Bien joué!” Chat Noir's ring suddenly let out a string of beeps, causing both teens to look at it curiously. The last toe on the paw print gave a feeble flash before fading, all that was left was the large central pad, indicating only a minute left on the timer. “You should go. Our identities have to stay secret...”

Chat Noir's face fell, but he quickly rallied himself bravely and gave Marinette a sweeping bow. “It was so cool! We'll do this again soon, okay?!” he called back as he dashed off and pole vaulted away.

“Not too soon, anyway!” Marinette commented to herself once he was out of sight. She then turned back to her classmate, who was still sitting there looking lost and confused. She remembered the paper ball and unfurled it to read, “You're not even able to tell Mylène you love her, you chicken? Awwwa...” poor Ivan, to have his feelings mocked like this, it must have hurt so much. No wonder he had wanted to punch Kim. She would have been angry too if a bully picked on her for something as pure and wonderful as falling in love.

She walked over to Ivan, who looked ashamed as he noticed the heroine had read the note. “It's Kim who wrote that, he always makes fun of me!” he explained.

Marinette knelt down and placed her hand comfortingly on Ivan's large shoulder in an understanding gesture. “You know, you don't need to get yourself worked up over it. There's nothing shameful about telling someone you love them, Ivan.”

“How do you know my name, Mademoiselle?” Ivan asked.

Marinette flinched back, trying to think of something quickly to cover her mistake. “Err...” was as far as she got before Alya was upon them, phone held up and recording.

“Unbelievable! Incredible! Fabulous! Are you the one who's going to protect Paris now? Where do you get your powers from, were you bitten by a radioactive ladybug? Oh I have so many questions to ask you, mademoiselle, mademoiselle, er...”

Marinette was dumbfounded and taken aback by the onslaught of questions being fired off at her, until her earrings let out one of those same beeps that Chat Noir's ring had given. Taking that as her cue, she got up and started walking away mid-question stream. However, when Alya floundered, trying to think up how to address her, she paused. Honestly, Marinette had been thinking somewhere in the back of her head this very same issue ever since Chat Noir had asked for an introduction. Alya had called her a ladybug-girl and kept connecting her to them, so yeah, why not?

“Ah... Ladybug. Call me Ladybug,” was all she said before throwing out her yo-yo and letting it zip her away.

“Ladybug?! This is so awesome!” Alya enthused to herself. 

~*~

“ _And so it's thanks to these amateur images that Parisians know their saviour's identity,_ ” Mme Chamack's voice came from Marinette's computer speakers as she watched the news stream. 

“I did it, Tikki!” Marinette said, still not quite over the fact that she had succeeded.

Tikki smiled patiently at hir holder, “I knew you could do it.”

Her father's voice called up the stairs, “Marinette! Food's ready!”

~*~

Adrien laid curled up on his sofa, watching the evening news as Plagg sampled the wide spread of food his family's chef so nicely agreed to prepare for him. “ _And it is with immense joy that I announce to you that we will organize a grand party to celebrate the new protectors of our city, Ladybug and Chat Noir!_ ” the Mayor was saying from behind his podium, but only one word from that whole speech managed to lodge itself in the young model's smitten brain.

“Ladybug...” he tasted the name on his lips. It tasted sweeter than cream brulee. “Her name is Ladybug...” he sighed.

“Yuck! You want me to eat _this?!_ ” Plagg interrupted, waving the parfait under Adrien's nose. 

“Are you kidding? It's our starred chef who made everything!” Adrien countered, offended for the nice old man's sake. 

“If you want me to regenerate after a transformation, I need dishes more delicate!” Plagg insisted, tossing the parfait—glass cup and all—onto the ground.

Adrien gave the little kwami a disapproving stare for a moment, but when that had no effect, he sighed in resignation and asked, “Okay, what do you want?”

~*~

Through the Parisian sky, little black wings fluttered. Higher and higher it flew until it came to land atop the Eiffel Tower, where it rested. It sat for a minute before it twitched, jerked, convulsed, and then split. More and more copies manifested, splintering off and fluttering away in all directions like streams of little black wings.

~*~

Marinette was just finishing up doing the dishes after dinner, her daily mealtime chore, when she heard her mother exclaim from the living room “Oh, how terrible!” 

Concerned, Marinette turned to look and saw the evening news running on TVi. “ _While Paris was ready to celebrate the appearance of the two superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic blows over the capital as dozens of people change, in turn, into stone monsters!_ ” Mme Chamack reported.

Marinette dropped the thick ceramic cup in the sink and for once didn't bother to panic or apologize when it received a large crack down its surface. Instead, she was already dashing up the stairs to her room as fast as she could manage. She missed a step, scraping her shin and banging her knee, but her scrambling posture let her catch herself on her other three limbs before she tumbled the rest of the way down the steps in a sprawling mess.

Once in the safety of her room, with the trap door closed securely behind her, she turned to her little red kwami and demanded, “What's going on? Why are there suddenly Stonehearts everywhere?! I thought we beat him already!”

“Did you capture the akuma?” Tikki asked simply.

“What's the connection between the akuma and the other Stonehearts?” Marinette questioned, not understanding the situation.

“If given enough time after affixing itself to a host's emotions, an akuma can multiply itself! That's why we have to capture and cleanse them! If Ivan feels negative emotions again, the akuma will reattach itself to gain more power and turn him into Stoneheart again, and he'll control every transformed person and they'll become his army!” Tikki warned.

“It means... everything's my fault?!” Marinette asked, that little spark of pride and confidence that had started to grow in her after the day's battle was snuffed out faster than a candle in a tsunami. At once her chest clenched, her head swam, of course it was her fault, it was always her fault. Everything she touched imploded, so why would she think even for a moment she could do this? “I knew it, see Tikki, I'm not cut out to be a superheroine! Whatever I do, I do it wrong!” Marinette sobbed out.

“Calm down, it was your very first time! You'll go back there, capture Stoneheart's akuma, and this time you'll succeed!” Tikki assured.

But Marinette turned away. It was so easy to say those words, but what did Tikki know? Tikki didn't know her, they'd only been together for a few hours! How could she understand how much of an absolute disaster Marinette was? Why had she ever thought she had what it took? It was better off to not even try! If she didn't try, she couldn't ruin things.

“I can't, I told you! I'm clumsy, I provoke disasters all the time! I'm only making things worse, for me, for you, for everyone! Chat Noir will do better off without me, I give up...” she declared after her little blow up came to an end.

“But, Marinette, only Ladybug can purify the akuma and set everything right again!” Tikki implored. “After the akuma's negative energy is cleansed, the Lucky Charm can be released with the Miraculous Ladybug cure and restore all the damages and injuries caused in the fight against it! So even if you do mess up, so long as you catch the akuma, you can fix it in the end!”

“But why can't Chat Noir do all of that? He as a kwami, too, right?” Marinette argued.

“Chat Noir's kwami has the power of destruction. Cataclysm could destroy an akuma's body, but the negative energy stored in the akuma would backfire onto him and badly hurt him. And if he tried it enough times, it would eventually kill him,” Tikki explained.

“Well, if Chat Noir can't capture them safely, then find another Ladybug...” Marinette insisted, coming to her vanity and looking at herself in the mirror. “I already told you I'm not cut out to be Ladybug.” Reaching up, Marinette began to remove the earrings. “I'm sorry Tikki.”

“No, don't do tha--” Tikki began to warn, but vanished from the earthly plain before she could finish as Marinette removed the other earring.

Marinette looked around her suddenly empty room in confusion. “...Tikki?” When she got no response, the blunette sighed. It seemed she wasn't even worthy of a goodbye. “I'm really sorry, Tikki...” she said to the empty room anyway, putting the earrings back in their little jewellery box and shutting it all away in her vanity drawer.

~*~

“Stinky Camembert...” Adrien bemoaned as he watched his kwami gorge hirself on a round of the cheese. “Fantastic. He only eats Camembert, which means I'm gonna stink all day because of him.”

Letting his eyes loose focus on the black cat kwami, he mindlessly stared in the general direction of the television set. It took him a moment to realize that the images playing were not, in fact, of the fight against Stoneheart earlier that day, but of other strangers transforming into Stonehearts. Eyes focusing on the figures, he started actually listening to what the TVi news reporter was actually saying. 

“ _For now, these Stonehearts seem to be inactive—still as statues. What will become of these statues? Will they awaken one day, or stay still for eternity?_ ”

“Plagg! What's happening? We defeated it, though!” Adrien worried, jumping to his feet, ready to take action once more.

“You captured the akuma, right?” Plagg checked.

“Capture? What are you talking about?” Adrien asked confused.

“Ladybug has to capture the akuma after the fight, or else it'll multiply. That's probably what's going on here,” Plagg drawled, not sounding the least concerned.

“So, I can't do anything without Ladybug?” Adrien clarified.

“Only Ladybug can capture akuma and repair damage caused by supervillains,” Plagg insisted.

“Then why am I even here? What purpose does Chat Noir serve?!” Adrien fretted.

“To preserve the balance,” Plagg answered. “And to be her spear. The job of the black cat is to protect the beetle and fight against the evil. The red beetle may be able to purify and heal, but they're not very suited to front-line combat. That's the cat's job, after all, to go toe-to-toe with the supervillain so the healer can be kept safe.”

“I'm her knight...” Adrien whispered to himself, turning and eyeing his wall of fencing trophies. “And she's my Lady...”

“Yeah, sure, that works,” Plagg said, turning back around to where the cheese still rested.

“How much are you going to eat? Seriously, you're only like six inches tall at the most!” he complained.

“I have the appearance of being six inches tall, that does not mean that I am,” Plagg responded cryptically, shoving another piece of Camembert in his mouth.

“Glutton...” Adrien accused quietly before changing topics. “So then what am I supposed to do, wait for Ladybug to show up again? Wont all these new Stonehearts cause problems? Shouldn't we go try and deal with them?”

“Nah, they aren't real akuma, just sort of... copies? Only the real akuma, wherever it ended up, can act. Without it's host, it doesn't have the power to make the others move. You'll just have to wait around for the original Stoneheart to get reakumatized and show back up before you can do anything.”

~*~

Le Papillon stood within his lair, looking out the ornate window and to the sky beyond. White wings fluttered around him, but he was concentrating too much and hardly noticed. “Ivan has a sensitive heart. It wont be long before anger and sadness come back to strike him again.” Weakened, the weary akuma bobbed and swayed as it made its way back through the empty central pane of the butterfly window and to the handle of Le Papillon's cane. Once there, it entered the engraved glass and fell dormant. “Him and all his Stonehearts will then come to life. We'll see if you stay hidden for long, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Once I have your Miraculous, I'll obtain the ultimate power. Then no one will ever defy me again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Maladroite" just means "clumsy" in french, but seeing as I needed to set up the "ma" leading to something, and Chat specifically calls her "Miss Maladroite" with an English "Miss" as his very first nickname of her, I left it in French. In fact, Chat calls her "Miss" consistently, while everyone else called her "Mlle" the whole episode long.  
> Also, I looked up emergency contact numbers in France, and apparently (according to wikipidea) "17" is what you dial for the police, and other numbers for both ambulance and fire department. Also they listed a number of other contact numbers as well, but that's all irrelevant information.
> 
> And sorry about the moderation of comments, I'm vaguely aware the community suffers from some trolls and so I just want to prevent them causing a hassle before anything else starts. I am open to criticism and will allow anything short of senseless flames or pointless attempts to roleplay so don't feel like I'm stopping you from pointing out anything you feel is outright wrong or things you feel could have been done better. In fact, I appreciate honest criticism and will do my best to explain my reasoning so long as it's worded at least somewhat politely (allowing for impassioned objections, but not insults to my person) and in a way that I can actually determine what it is you are trying to convey.


	2. Origins Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of Origins. Adrien continues his obsession over fairies, a bit of background is explained regarding the villains, and Chloe and Adrien's friendship is explored. Also, Adrien really doesn't have a crush on the cute little Asian girl from his class. Alya gets some development, and world building all around in this chapter.
> 
> \-----
> 
> “As the Paris situation seems to have been cleared up, we at the League do not feel it necessary at the moment to intervene. From what we have seen of the situation, Paris's new heroes seem to be on top of the matter. Their understanding of what's going on puts them in the best position to be the ones in charge of this new supervillain, Le Papillon.” The American hero was talking in English, but helpful subtitles played for the sake of those who did not understand the language.
> 
> “So you intend to abandon Paris?” one sensationalist reporter asked.
> 
> “No, if the situation becomes more dire, the League of Heroes will consider stepping in. But as of this moment, we feel our resources are better allocated to areas that do not have their own teams of dedicated heroes to watch over them,” Majestia countered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics to Ivan's song were directly taken off of what the camera showed when Mylene was reading the page. I'm sure it sounded better in the original French language, but I don't remember enough of my old high school French classes from like... ten years ago to reliably figure out how they'd translate.

He was laying on his back, staring up at the tree branches and flower bushes. The sun was warm and the breeze was comforting. Somewhere near by, a woman's beautiful and soothing voice sang a wordless tune. Half formed shapes drifted and wove above, one lavender and the other jewel blue. He giggled, reaching up and up to them with tiny chubby arms. They giggled back, voices high and light as bells as the woman continued to sing. The blue one dove down, a brush of feathers tickling his fingers before the lavender one drifted down to settle on his chest. 

He giggled again, eyes sliding shut before he opened them again to find himself in his cold, dark, lonely room just as dawn was beginning to break through the night. He blinked a time or two more and let out a sigh. He hadn't dreamed of the fairies in so long, but after the day he had yesterday it didn't really surprise him. He more remembered remembering them rather than actually remembering them by this point, and at moments he wasn't sure even the memory of them was real. 

He had been so young when he had made the mistake of trying to call them to show Chloé, his only friend and the girl he had a toddler's crush on. He had fallen out of his crush over her, of course, when they were seven and she had broken his sensitive little heart by declaring he had 'boy cooties' and was therefore gross. But their friendship had thankfully survived and had developed into something closer to that of siblings over the years. Still, that she had never let him live down his failed attempt to show her real live fairies, and the argument that had erupted from it afterwards over whether they were truly real or not had kept them in his mind over the last decade.

His mother had taught him how to call them, said it was a special family secret that no one could know. He had been devastated when his one mistake of trying to share them with the girl he—at the time—was positive he would one day grow up and marry had made it so they would never show themselves to him again. But now a new fairy had come to him. Ze called hirself a kwami, but Adrien was pretty sure ze was a Cat Sidhe. Or, maybe just something similar? Probably “Cat Sidhe” was just what the Celts called hir, or “kwami” was just a fairy word for fairies, or something. 

After all, Adrien was pretty sure that “kwami” wasn't a word in any human language, so he supposed it had to be a word from the fairy language. The closest he knew was the Japanese word “kami”, but he wasn't sure he was ready to declare his little kitten bedmate a god. 

Figuring he was probably up for the day, given all the churning his brain was doing, he decided he may as well start getting ready. His father said he was forbidden from going to collège with Chloé because he was Gabriel Agreste's son. But he wasn't yet ready to give up on that. Going to school, making friends... it was all Adrien had wanted for years, ever since Chloé started coming back with stories about all the people in class that adored her. And Plagg had said he was to be gaining more freedoms now that he would be a superhero, so why shouldn't he attend public school if he wanted to? He would just have to make sure he left earlier today so he could get there before the doors closed and hopefully before he was missed.

~*~

The television in the living room played the news as Marinette finished her breakfast that morning, her father wanting to keep on top of the situation. “ _Stonehearts spread all across Paris show no signs of activity. Security cordons have been set around them._ ”

“ _We are still looking for the way to give these people their appearances back. But for now, we don't have any clue,_ ” the Mayor announced, a repeat clip from the speech he had given the evening before.

“ _Let's hope the new guardian angels of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir, will reappear soon to save these innocents,_ ” Mme Chamack continued once the clip was done.

Tom turned from the dishes and noticed his little girl's uneasiness. He smiled, wiped his hands on a dishrag and put an arm around his little girl. “Listen, I know all these events have been a bit worrying, but rest assured. Now, we have two superheores watching over Paris. And the best way to help them, my dear, is to show them we're not scared! Because we believe in them!”

Though she knew he was trying to comfort her, Marinette looked away in guilt. “And what if Ladybug doesn't reappear?”

“Then...” Tom said, taking a moment to think. “I'd come save you.” He grabbed a stick of bread from the counter and brandished it like a rapier. “Super baker in action!”

This gained a giggle from Marinette, who turned and threw her arms around her father's neck, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Super Papa. You're my hero.” She then hurried off upstairs to get her bag ready for school. Double checking her homework was indeed in the pocket she remembered sliding it into, she paused by her vanity and guilt swelled in her again.

Paris was waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir to save them. Chat Noir would never know why she had vanished, and she would never get the opportunity to thank him for being so kind and understanding with her ineptitude. But she knew she wouldn't be able to live up to everyone's expectations. She didn't know anything about superheroes, and her bumbling incompetence had not only nearly gotten Chat Noir killed the day before, but had made the whole situation worse. 

It was all her fault, but she knew how to fix it. Tikki had said she was the chosen one, but Marinette knew that had to have been a mistake. Tikki just didn't know what sort of girl Marinette really was. But Marinette knew. Alya would be so much better, she was so brave and could stand up to anyone like Chloé. She knew all about superheroes already, so would know not to make the same stupid mistakes Marinette did. And best of all, she wasn't a walking disaster and so wouldn't do something as mortifying as landing on Chat Noir and tangling him up in her yo-yo string.

Actually, now that she thought of it, Chat Noir would likely be thrilled he didn't have to deal with her again. He could have a real partner who could match him beat for beat, not a coward that stood around panicking to herself while he was in danger. She remembered for a moment when he called her “Miss Maladroite” and how the tone had been almost flirtatious when he had addressed her, and how thrilled he had been at the end of the fight, showering her in praises. But she brushed it all aside. What kind of cute boy would flirt with a total mess like her? It had to have been her imagination, just wishful thinking on her part as a young teenaged girl. Surely he was just being friendly, and she mistook his behaviour because she doesn't have any friends who are boys.

Taking the jewellery box that held her Miraculous in it, she put it in her purse so she could find a moment to slip it to Alya later. Right now, she had school to get to. She could wonder about hypothetical behaviours of boys she would never meet again later.

~*~

Nathalie looked at the clock in the dining hall once more. Quarter to nine. Adrien was supposed to have been down for breakfast twenty minutes ago. Gabriel had wanted her presence in the atelier at eight that morning to help clear up an issue involving a shipment mix-up and them getting a delivery of the wrong sort of fabric. She had gone by Adrien's room while the boy was getting dressed for the day beforehand to remind him of when the chef would be serving his meal and to let him know she would be in once she was done to give him the day's schedule.

The mix-up had ended up taking forty minutes to clear up, but when she arrived in the dining hall it was to Adrien's place being set and meal sitting untouched and waiting for him to arrive to eat it. That was five minutes ago and Nathalie was beginning to grow impatient. She did not manage to keep every member of Gabriel on schedule by being known for her patience and tolerance of tardiness, after all. She was nothing if not a stickler for punctuality.

She looked at the clock again. Thirty seconds had gone by. She sighed. “What is he _doing_?” She left the dining hall and briskly marched up the stairwell, her heels clicking on the stone steps until she reached Adrien's door. She straitened her pantsuit to ensure she cut the most intimidating presence her stature could manage for this upcoming scolding, and swung his door open without even bothering to knock. She found the room empty. “Adrien?”

There was no response. She went to his personal bathroom. Empty. Headed back out to the library. Empty. The music room. Empty. The kitchen. Empty, empty, empty! Every room she looked in had no Adrien to be found. Even the gardens were Adrien free. She had a sinking suspicion where he was, but she didn't want to face Gabriel's wrath if she was right. One last swing by the dining hall found a confused maid quietly cleaning up the untouched breakfast. The woman greeted Nathalie and asked after Adrien's health as to why he wouldn't have come down for his meal. Nathalie was loath to admit she had lost the boss's son.

But it seemed there was no other explanation to be had. And so Nathalie entered the atelier prepared for a scolding and potentially the loss of her job. “Sir, it appears Adrien has sneaked out again.”

“What?!” Gabriel exploded, abandoning his work station and storming past her to Adrien's room himself. Less than a minute later found Gabriel standing on the first landing, glaring down at Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard, Georges, on the ground floor as he chewed them out. “You didn't see him go out?! Should anything happen to my son, I will hold you responsible! Now, I believe it is clear where he has headed. Go retrieve him immediately!”

~*~

Adrien cut through the park that was only a few blocks from school at a run. He was determined that today, he would succeed. He had taken the chance to sneak out before breakfast when Nathalie had informed him she would be busy for a time that morning with his father. He had stopped off at a coffee shop on route to grab something on the go, but he had run into a bit of trouble in deciding what he wanted and had taken longer in there than he intended. Then add to that a couple of fans who stopped him as he was leaving to ask for his autograph, and it wasn't long before he was running later than he intended.

Once in the area of the park that they were unlikely to be seen from the street, Plagg came out of the pocket ze had been hanging out in and flew along side Adrien so they could talk more comfortably. “What a strange boy... Why want to go to school instead of staying peacefully at home?”

“You don't understand, Plagg. I'm sick of being cloistered at home because of my Père! I want to meet people, make friends, and go to school every day like everyone else!” Adrien insisted, bursting with excitement.

Plagg let out a groan and stopped keeping pace with Adrien, just levitating there in the air. “Here it is, I'm feeling myself faint...”

Adrien stopped and walked back to hir. “No way, is this a joke? That you only eat Camembert with a disgusting smell, alright. But I'm the one who has to carry it,” Adrien complained, holding a slice up for the kwami. “Result is, I smell like a cheese shop, _that's_ what's strange!”

Plagg scarfed the snack down, “Well, eating cheese, it gives me strength. If you want me to be able to transform you, you have to accept smelling like old socks.”

Adrien just sighed in exasperation and shooed Plagg back into his pocket so he could run again.

~*~

Alya met Marinette on the corner across the street from the bakery that morning, and they walked the rest of the way to school together. “So you really live at a bakery? Must be nice to get to eat as many pastries as you want!”

“Well, not _as many_ as I want,” Marinette amended. “It is still a business, after all. And honestly, after a while you kinda get bored of leftover pastries every day.”

“Yeah, I can get that. My Maman's a chef, just got a new job at Le Grand Paris hotel, but if I had to eat something like stake every day, I'd get tired of it too,” Alya admitted.

“Wait, at Chloé's hotel?” Marinette questioned.

“What do you mean, Chloé's hotel?”

“Le Grand Paris. The Mayor, Chloé's Père, owns it. Chloé like, lives in the penthouse suite and everything,” Marinette explained.

Alya pulled a face. “Ugh, maybe I should see if I can talk my mom into switching jobs...”

Marinette giggled, before changing topics slightly. “My Maman comes from a family of chefs, too. My great uncle is actually a rather famous chef. Though, none of them were too impressed when she came to France to study at a culinary school and ended up staying because she decided to marry a baker.”

“Seriously? Maybe our mamans can get together some time and compare recipes. My Maman doesn't know many Chinese dishes, I don't think,” Alya suggested. “What about you, do you cook much?”

“Oh, no, not really. I mean, I help out in the bakery sometimes, but I'm much more into design,” Marinette admitted.

“That's cool,” Alya acknowledged. “Maybe I can take a look at some of your ideas sometime or something.”

“Sure,” Marinette agreed, a little nervous. “What about you, Alya? Are you looking to follow in your maman's footsteps?”

“Who, me? Cook?” she let out a scoff. “I'm an absolutely amazing cook! I can do the impossible! I can burn anything, even water!” Alya laughed at her own joke, so Marinette felt comfortable doing the same without having to worry about trying to reassure her new friend. “But seriously, what I want to be is a journalist. Oh, and speaking of which, check it out:” Alya said, pulling out her phone and bringing up a webpage. “The Ladyblog, your number one source of information on Ladybug, the coolest of superheroines! Rocks, huh? Look how many views I made thanks to this video!”

“But...” Marinette hesitated, stopping her walking halfway through the school courtyard. “Why do you trust Ladybug so much? You saw all these Stonehearts...”

“I'm sure she'll fix it!” Alya insisted confidently. 

“But... what if she's not cut out to be a superheroine, unlike what people might think?” Marinette pushed.

“What are you talking about, come on!” Alya argued back, an edge of annoyance seeping in to her voice, before she gasped with sudden realization. “Oh wait... Ah, alright, that's it, I get it...” Alya said, coming close to Marinette. The blunette was beginning to panic when Alya placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “You're scared. But rest assured, I was next to Ladybug, I've seen her with my own eyes! That girl is a _real_ superheroine, she's gonna protect us all! Believe me.”

Marinette looked at Alya in awe, taken by such confidence and self-assurance. Alya turned and continued on towards class, leaving Marinette to try and catch up. Her attention was derailed, however, when she noticed her classmates and a few other kids that were classmates in previous years standing around Ivan, who was looking rather down.

“And so, you don't remember anything?” Alix was asking. Though she wasn't one of the girls Marinette considered a bully, she certainly wasn't terribly nice either. Alix tended to cut to the point in a brash way that left little consideration for the feelings of the person she was talking to. As such, Marinette respected her, even if she didn't always like her.

“You should have seen it. You totally flipped, it was totes off the hook,” the class goth, Juleka, was saying. Juleka, at least, was a friend of Ivan's and was being respectful of his feelings. She honestly sounded more impressed than judgmental, probably because Juleka herself was one of the kids in their year to get low-key bullied due to her quiet nature and unique lifestyle. (Something about living on a boat? Marinette wasn't completely sure.) She probably felt a kind of catharsis at the idea of a bully getting put in their place, even if it was in such a manner.

“Seriously, you strait up wanted to pulverize me!” Kim cut in, causing Ivan to look somewhere between annoyed and guilty, until his eyes caught sight of Mylène standing in the background looking worried.

“Sorry...” Ivan muttered out, suddenly looking ashamed. “It wasn't really me.”

Chloé laughed at this. “You know what they say: once a monster, always a monster!” Getting angry at Chloé's insult, Ivan got to his feet and stomped off, the students scattering to get out of his way after yesterday's performance. It didn't make him feel better, but at the moment he wouldn't complain. It let him get out of the circle of their ridicule faster. “Perfect! We feel safer without you!” Chloé cruelly called after him.

As Alya turned on Chloé, teeth bared, Marinette could only hear Tikki's words from the night before: _“If Ivan feels negative emotions again, the akuma will reattach itself to gain more power and turn him into Stoneheart again, and he'll control every transformed person and they'll become his army!”_

Alya marched right up to Chloé and got in her face. “How could you say that to Ivan? You're the one with the heart of stone!”

“Because I'm the one who broke Sabrina's father's arm, maybe? Just because TV broadcasted your awful images of those two superheroes doesn't mean you should get a big head!” She blew a bubble of her chewing gum at Alya, letting it pop in the darker girl's face.

“You're just a filthy little...” Alya seethed, shaking in anger as she struggled to come up with a description to fit everything Chloé Bourgeois was.

“Oh, watch out,” Chloé cooed, tone mocking, “she's angry! She's going to rip her shirt and transform into a monster full of muscles!”

Alya actually growled at Chloé, like some rabid animal, before turning around and storming off.

~*~

Within the dark room, Le Papillon stood and watched the ornate window open to the Parisian skyline. “There. Derogatory remarks always hurt... Get irritated, Ivan! Your akuma only awaits this!” he said, tapping the glass orb that made his cane's handle and watching the small black butterfly flitter in response.

~*~

This was it, he was almost there! Up the steps and the open door was right before him, he could see the students milling around just inside. He was almost going to go to collège like a normal--

“Adrien, don't do this, your father will be furious!” Nathalie's voice called out to him, half scolding and half pleading.

He turned to see her closing the passenger door of le Gorille's car. She began marching the distance towards him. “Tell him you arrived too late,” Adrien demanded, adding a “Please!” to the end only as an after thought. Even if he had to break out every morning, even if he got in trouble every day for the rest of forever with his father, he was going to public school. He didn't wait for her response, just turned and hurried into the school building. He knew nothing prevented her from following him and escorting him back out again, but something about the act of actually crossing that threshold seemed so empowering.

Once inside, it didn't take much effort for Adrien to notice his friend. She stood in a group of other teens about their age of both genders and multiple styles. Her posture was that of mocking condescension, a pose she'd often take at galas as she talked about what everyone else was wearing. Or when her and Felix would get playful with each other and start throwing insults back and forth to see who could one up the other. But in this case, the other girl didn't look like she was playing along. Or maybe she just didn't understand the game? Either way she turned and stomped off, looking honestly upset.

Before Chloé could go any further, Adrien cut in. “Erm, hi Chloé!” he said, giving her the same look he always gives her when she gets into this mood. That one that expressed how very much she should stop, while at the same time highly amused at the bizarre game she was playing. He knew she got it from copying her mother, he'd never fault anyone for trying to be closer to their parents, but he could also see that sometimes she took it a little too far, especially for those that didn't know that it was all just play.

At once Chloé's face split into a smile as she squealed out, “Adrichou! You came!” and came running to meet him with a hug and excited giggles.

Chloé's high-pitched voice and excitement drew the attention of the other students in the courtyard and all too quickly a fuss had started surrounding him. “Wow, it's Adrien Agreste!” “It's really true!” “Oh, he's even more beautiful in real life...” were just a few of the things he heard before the students started to run up and crowd around the two friends.

Chloé felt Adrien start to tense up in indecision and fear, and pulled away enough to transfer her hold to his arm instead. She shot a look at the assembled masses, causing many of them to pull up short out of nerves alone towards the queen of the school. She noticed Adrien's eyes flicker her way, and subtlety placed the back of her hand under her chin and pressed upwards to lift it higher, letting her fingers brush out from under it and reattach themselves to his arm. Adrien at once let his shoulders drop to a position of calm confidence and started his runway walk towards the far side of the crowd. Together, the two blonds split them like water as Chloé guided him towards the office so he could get a locker assigned.

She smiled, proud of her best friend-turned-crush. The truth was that Adrien was extremely socially awkward, not having more than a basic skill at reading a room or the cues people give. Gabriel refused to let him interact more with the outside world, yet grew so horribly cross whenever Adrien failed to behave absolutely perfect. So to keep him safe, they had practised a number of moods for him to be able to preform in different situations, and a series of secret gestures known only to them so she could key him in to how he should act without embarrassing him or letting him get in trouble.

Really, she was always looking out for him like this. After all, in all this world it was just her and him who had each other's backs. She would never let him down.

~*~

Marinette nervously poked her head around the corner of the lockers. She had followed Ivan on impulse, not really sure what she was doing, but knowing he couldn't let his negative emotions take over him again. She found him sitting, curled up on himself, listening to music. He looked so lost and broken, it hurt to just see him. She thought back to what her Maman and Papa did when she was feeling down after a day of Chloé's bullying, and walked forward. 

Kneeling down next to him, she put a comforting hand on his forearm to let him know she was there. He looked at her wearily, but removed the headphones anyway with a questioning noise. “You know... you should tell Mylène how you feel about her,” Marinette encouraged.

Ivan looked away sulkily, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Stop it,” she waved the act off, “I've seen how you look at her!” Ivan looked at her with eyes full of fear, before averting his gaze in shame. “No! Avoid negative emotions,” she insisted, placing her hands on his arm, only for him to glare at her so she quickly removed them. “What I mean is, be positive. I'm sure she's in love with you, too. Go talk to her.”

Ivan huffed in annoyance at this. “No, I suck at words.”

“Well, find something else,” Marinette suggested. “Maybe draw her something, or get her flowers!”

“I could... write her a song?” Ivan suggested, looking to Marinette in hopes this was a good, romantic idea.

“That's a great idea!” Marinette enthused. “Write her a love song, just for her! Come on Ivan, go for it, and erm... you know, stay positive!”

Suddenly full of boundless hope and confidence, Ivan pushed himself to his feet and hurried off so he could go get started. He was going to write the girl he loved a love song. He was going to make all his dreams come true.

~*~

Nathalie reentered the mansion, having told Georges that she would explain everything to Gabriel and he needn't concern himself with any of it. The mute man nodded, parked the car, and began examining the grounds to see if he couldn't figure out how Adrien kept slipping away. Meanwhile, Nathalie herself entered the atelier to find it oddly empty. Guessing she knew where her boss was, she locked the door behind herself and stepped up to the painting of his ex-wife.

Scowling at the woman's flawless face with a jealousy she struggled to keep concealed, she pressed the buttons hidden within the painting and began to be lowered into the ground via the hidden elevator system. Down, then over, then up into the attic room on the East Wing above where the master bedroom was. One of the benefits of having built the mansion after becoming a superhero was that he had managed to hide his lair right within his very own house under the guise of an eccentric artist. Even his own son believed that was all there was to the too-thick walls and boarded off rooms.

The elevator came to a halt in that darkened attic room, and there he stood in all purple, tall and dark and imposing. She resisted the shiver that trickled down her back like ice water. In this form, he was power incarnate. She had never wanted anyone so badly. She still remembered it clearly, years ago when she had only been a young teen, how he had saved her life. The feel of his strong arms around her, leaping from building to building as if they were flying. He was her hero, and she would do anything for him.

“I don't feel his negative waves anymore, they disappeared!” Papillon raged in frustration. He had almost had Ivan again, but now the emotions had disappeared! How could this be? He heard the elevator come to a stop behind him and turned to regard Nathalie as she stepped into the room.

She greeted him with a simple “Sir,” as she stepped forward. “About your son, Adrien... He was already on school property when we arrived, I felt it better not to make a scene by removing him forcefully where all the other children could see. However, I feel that perhaps... allowing him this opportunity may be beneficial...”

“What do you mean? I already said I do not want him attending public school,” Le Papillon responded, tone low and threatening in his rage.

“Yes, Sir,” Nathalie was quick to agree. “However, I believe if you do not grant him permission for this, he will merely continue to find ways to break out and attempt to go anyway. At least if you give him permission, it will be on your terms that he is attending. You can monitor him better that way, ensure he is behaving properly, and if he starts stepping too far out of line, you can always revoke the permission at a later date. After all, if he fails to live up to your expectations, he has no one to blame for his loosing privileges but himself...”

“Hmmm... you make an interesting point,” Papillon conceded. “Perhaps letting him out into the world to experience first hand some of the dangers I have warned him awaits him when he does not listen to me may teach him his place. And if nothing else, having something precious to him to loose should he cross me would be quite the incentive to help keep him in line...”

“Yes, Sir,” Nathalie agreed.

“Very well, I will change my mind just this once as a gift to my precious son. Never let it be said that I do nothing for him,” Papillon cooed to himself.

~*~

Chloé lead Adrien along the hallway by their interlinked arms with a confident sort of air that came with much practice. Somewhere along the way, a fan had shoved a pen in Adrien's hand and he had been signing various magazines and notebooks ever since. 

When they finally reached Mlle Bustier's classroom was the first time Chloé let go of his arm. She hurried in to the room and in her sweetest tone indicated a seat in the front row. “So here, this will be your seat, Adrichou!”

Adrien walked into the room after her, giving her a warm smile and a quick shoulder squeeze as he walked past her to the spot she indicated. “Thanks, Chloé.” Noticing the boy who would be his seatmate watching him as he came to sit down with an odd expression that Adrien didn't quite know how to read, he scooted over a comfortable distance and offered his hand. “Uh, hi, I'm Adrien!”

Nino gave him a suspicious look, not taking the offered hand, and asked judgmentally, “So, I guess you're one of Chloé's pals?” Adrien flinched back in confusion at Nino's reaction, not understanding what the problem would be. He noticed Nino look past him and turned to follow the gaze. With wide, innocent, lost eyes, Adrien watched in silence along with the rest of the class as Chloé pulled her chewing gum from her mouth and handed it off to a red haired girl he sort of recognized from a few photos around Chloé's room. The girl then squished the gum soundly onto the bench across the isle from him.

Adrien frowned at once, “Ugh, what are you doing?” he demanded, raising to his feet.

“The two who sit here were rude to me yesterday,” Chloé insisted as if that made this whole thing perfectly okay. “They need to be put back in their place. I'm just teaching them to respect me, nothing more.”

“Chloé, are you sure you have to do this?” Adrien demanded, pushing past the girls to try and work the gum up. Though he was trying to keep his tone and posture civil, he knew some of his disapproval and annoyance leaked through by the subtle shift in his friend.

She forced a laugh and turned away, pretending his lowered opinion of her didn't get to her. “You still have so much to learn, Adrichou. Let the expert do it.”

~*~

Alya had found Marinette in the locker room less than a minute after Ivan had left and after the two girls had stowed what they didn't need for class, they walked together continuing on Alya's conversation topic of choice: superheroes. Currently Alya was explaining to her the history of the League of Heroes, how it formed and who the founding members had been. She had mentioned how long she thought it might take for the League to extend membership invitations to Ladybug and Chat Noir, and when Marinette hadn't known already how that process worked, it sent Alya off on a tangent of information spewing.

Superheroes, as it turned out, had always existed throughout history. Special individuals that for some reason or another had extraordinary talents that let them achieve the impossible. Names gone down in history as myth and legend because the stories got passed around so often that no one knew what was real any longer. It had only been during the World Wars that their existence became truly centrepiece. Countries had recruited them to fight on both sides and while normal civilian soldiers fought in trenches, the superheroes fought their supervillains in grand expansive battles that many soldiers of the first World War had gone home and told stories of.

Following that, there had been a push to find these heroes identities, and those that were discontent with the world, or suffered PTSD that they couldn't control, or other such issues started becoming supervillains. By the second World War, they were seen as a resource powerful enough that scientists on both sides began trying to discover how to artificially and reliably create superheroes for their cause. Basically, super soldiers.

At the end of the war, those super soldiers returned and there was a boom of public appreciation. That was when the first comic books about their exploits began making their rounds. But in time, people lost interest as daily life no longer really needed them. But with the coming of the hippie movement, when activism and awareness of the problems beyond your front door suddenly became the cool thing to do, a number of superhero vigilantes started popping up in urban areas.

The prominent and more powerful ones had started coming in contact with each other, teaming up for certain jobs in what is now considered the Golden Age. It was then that the League of Heroes was first formed, a small group of international heroes who wanted to do more than they could achieve alone. Now it was UN funded, with official heroes from every country in the world as members going and doing everything from saving people from natural disasters to taking on the supervillain's own Brotherhood of Evil.

“Alya?” Marinette suddenly cut in. “Would you like to be a superheroine? Fight against monsters and supervillains?”

“Ah, totally! I'm not scared of brawls or anything!” Alya enthused, stars of imagination and wonder dancing in her hazel eyes. “Why?”

“Oh, no, nothing,” Marinette waved off, trying to go for casual as her hand slipped into her purse and taking hold of the Miraculous jewellery box. “I just figured with how much you like them, you'd have thought of becoming a superheroine at least once...”

“Of course, hasn't everyone imagined that at some point or other?” Alya shrugged off confidently. Marinette slipped the box into Alya's bag, successfully unnoticed.

“Not really, not me,” Marinette admitted quietly.

It was then they walked into class, and at once Marinette looked up, giving a secret smile when she spotted Ivan hunched over some paper, concentrating hard and scribbling quickly. It took a few steps, what with him being knelt between the desks and hunched over Marinette's new seat, for either girl to notice the strange blond boy. They came up short with gasps before an indignant Marinette stepped forward. “Hey, what the heck are you doing?”

Adrien jumped and turned around, his heart gave a little lurch at the sight of the cute Asian girl with large blue eyes glaring down at him. “Oh, erm...” He had known for a few years now that he found Asian girls to be more attractive. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about their features were just his type. But this extra strong jolt that made his heart seem to leap into his throat when he met her eyes... surely that had to be because she caught him in a compromising position and obviously must have misinterpreted his actions.

Chloé and Sabrina were pointing and laughing at the girl as Adrien turned to Chloé for guidance on how he should act. A few other people in the class snickered as well, but most were just watching the action play out curiously. Marinette, for her part, looked passed the boy kneeling beside her seat to the gum on her chair. And of course. Of course even this new boy would choose to pick on her, it wasn't like anyone else bothered holding back either. Any friend of Chloé's would obviously be a bully too.

Struggling to hold in her indignant tears that burned at the corner of her vision, Marinette took a few deep breaths that wheezed a little as her airway constricted. The world was just so full of jerks. “Okay, I get it, good job you three, that's very funny,” she bit out, voice full on accusatory.

Adrien leapt to his feet in a panic, noticing how truly upset the girl was. “No no, I was trying to take _off_ the gum!” he hastened to explain.

But right now, Marinette wasn't hearing any of it. Too many times, people had tried to write off their bullying as something playful or innocent to get out of trouble the moment an adult caught them. But enough was enough, she wouldn't fall for such an obvious lie. “Oh yeah?” she asked, clearly not believing him at all. She pushed him out of her way and knelt down by her seat herself. She wanted the gum gone, but it was freshly chewed and still all wet and sticky. 

Quite frankly, it didn't matter who the gum had belonged to, it had been in someone's mouth, their saliva mixed all into it, and it was gross. The mouth was one of the dirtiest parts of the body, after all, full of bacteria. She gave up that endeavour, and went to Mlle Bustier's desk where a box of tissues was kept in case any students needed it. She took a few tissues out and folded them together so that the spit wouldn't soak through and laid them on the wad of gum.

“You're friends with Chloé, is that it?” she accused, turning back to Adrien at last with a heated glare.

Adrien averted his eyes, his shoulders slumping like they did under his father's withering gaze. It was hopeless, he couldn't make this right. She wouldn't listen, and now only fifteen minutes into him entering school, someone already hated him. “Why does everyone keep saying it like that?” he asked quietly, more to himself than directed at anyone else. He didn't understand, Chloé had always been so nice and helpful, even if it came off a little catty some times. She was just tsundere was all. But here, what she did with the gum was just plain mean. He didn't understand what anyone, especially such a cute fragile girl like this one, could have done to cause Chloé to act like this. But then the way people kept acting towards him and looking at him when they said she was his friend...

Adrien slipped back into his seat as Marinette sat down in an insulted huff. Chloé leaned forward to speak to him, “You see what I meant, now?” which only caused Adrien to sigh. Whatever was going on between the two girls, whatever he had gotten dragged into, it was clear had some serious history behind it. This wasn't what he had imagined of his school experience at all.

“I have a feeling I've already seen this boy somewhere...” Marinette grumbled from her seat, still shooting the blond the accusatory stink-eye. Alya then shoved her phone under the blunette's nose, and Marinette's jaw dropped. “Of course! He's the son of Gabriel Agreste, my favourite designer!”

“Daddy's boy, child star, and friends with Chloé? Hmph, forget him!” Alya wrote him off. 

But somewhere inside, Marinette's heart broke a little. That the face of Gabriel's male line... that anything associated with Gabriel could be so rotten was a hard pill to swallow. She loved their clothes so much, she had never really paid attention to the models—them being little more than pretty manikins in her opinion—but the colours and stitch work and use of patterns and texture that Gabriel employed was practically to die for. She just wished she could one day manage something on that scale herself. But to have to associate it with such a person from now on... now that she _knew_ she couldn't _unknow_ and so forever more the brand would be tarnished in her eyes.

It was at this time Mlle Bustier came in and started setting up for class. She pinned a map of Europe to the board and organized a pile of papers into three stacks, clearly worksheets for when the lecture was finished. Beside Adrien, Nino watched him. Not judgmentally like before, but gauging like he was trying to puzzle out why this round block wasn't fitting in the square hole he wanted to shove it in. “Why didn't you tell her it was Chloé?”

Adrien shrugged and answered honestly. “Well, you see, I've known her since I was a little kid. I was home-schooled my whole life, but our parents were friends so she was the only other kid I got to play with. Not everything about her is positive, but... I can't tell on her, she's the only friend I've got.”

He smiled at that, turning and extending a hand. “I'm Nino. It's time you make some new friends, dude.”

Mlle Bustier called the class to attention now and pulled out her list to check attendance. “Agreste, Adrien?” she called. 

Adrien froze like a deer in headlights, unsure what to do. Nino helpfully leaned over and informed him, “You need to say 'here'.”

Spring loaded on nerves already, and desperate to not get in trouble, Adrien jumped to his feet with his hand shooting into the air, and called far too loudly, “Uh, Here!” The class burst into giggles at the model's expense, and he flushed before sinking back down into his seat. Mlle Bustier smiled at the boy, feeling sympathy over his embarrassing himself. But Adrien noticed the gum-girl was one of the few not to laugh at his expense.

“Duuuude...” Nino said, presenting a fist to bump, Adrien accepted the gesture. “Just, maybe not so exuberantly next time, yeah?” to which Adrien even managed an embarrassed chuckle.

“Bourgeois, Chloé?” Mlle Bustier continued now that the class had calmed down.

“Present!” she chirped, prim and proper as always.

“Bruel, Ivan?” Mlle Bustier continued, looking directly at the large boy expectantly. “Ivan?” she repeated when he didn't respond immediately. She waited a beat more before sighing, “Ivan, please put away whatever it is you're working on there. This is class time, not you time, so it's time to pay attention to your teacher,” she said, a little louder and more sternly.

Ivan blushed at the scolding, but obediently shoved the paper he was writing on back into his bag. “Sorry, Mlle Bustier...”

“Césaire, Alya?” Mlle Bustier continued on.

~*~

The lunch bell rang and almost at once Chloé was back attached to Adrien's arm. “You don't have to go home for lunch, right?” she pressured. 

“Um, probably best if I don't?” Adrien hazarded. “But I didn't really have an opportunity to grab anything...”

“Oh, that's perfect! There's a cute little cafe just up the block, I'm sure you'll love it!” Chloé gushed, ushering her childhood friend out of the room.

Marinette turned to Alya, “Um... do-do you want to eat together today, too?”

“Sorry, girl, I can't. After the attack yesterday, my Papa's insistent that everyone comes home for lunch,” Alya told her, rolling her eyes at over-protective parents.

“Oh, okay,” Marinette conceded. 

Alya dropped her bag in her locker despite Marinette's attempts at insisting Alya keep it on her, and headed off for her place. Meanwhile, Marinette grabbed her lunch out of her bag and slowly made her way to the art room. She had learned a while ago that the lunch room wasn't exactly somewhere she was welcome, but thankfully M Louis Artus always had his door open to those students who were artistically inclined.

When Marinette entered, there were a few older students scattered about, working on various projects. Some of them eyed her cautiously until she sank quietly onto a stool at the far side of the room. The only person her age in the room was Nathaniel, who she smiled at in greeting but he quickly turned away. She sighed. There had been a time after he moved to their district that he had been her friend. But for almost a year and a half now, he would jump whenever their eyes met and quickly turn away. Everyone seemed to always reject her in the end, and Marinette couldn't help but dread the day Alya did the same.

~*~

It was nearly the end of lunch by the time Ivan finished composing the lyrics to his love song. Mylène had gone to the bathroom a few minutes before and Ivan got up to follow her. Standing outside the door, he fidgeted nervously. Everything was riding on this, would she like the song? Would she accept? The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and a moment later the bathroom door swung open.

Mylène started in surprise at seeing Ivan unexpectedly looming outside the girls washroom, and she gave an involuntary shriek. “Ahh! Ivan, you scared me,” she admitted as she forced herself to calm down.

“I wrote this for you...” Ivan announced, starting a heavy metal track on his phone and screaming the lyrics along side it. “Mylène! Stronger than an oak! Would you like to be my queen?!”

But the noise and music was too loud and aggressive, she couldn't make out what he was saying and they were already running late. He sounded angry, shouting like that, and she thought maybe she had done something wrong to upset him. The idea was troubling, and never one to be very brave, Mylène covered her ears and ran away.

Ivan watched her run, lost and confused. He had tried so hard to make a song for her, telling her how he felt, but she had run away rather than listen to his feelings. He shouldn't have confessed. If he had just kept his mouth shut, not listened to Marinette, everything would have been fine. Not great, but manageable. But now he had lost her for good, not even the hope of “what if” left. She had rejected him, and now she would hate him.

He crumpled the lyrics in his fist and threw his phone on the ground, smashing it under his heel. He didn't care about the contents on it he just lost or the cost to replace it, right now he was just hurt and angry and needed to destroy something to alleviate some of that suffering. He sunk to the ground, too upset to try going to class where she would be, where everyone would be, and just let himself feel.

~*~

“There, that's exactly what I was waiting for,” Papillon said, letting the window open and holding up his cane towards the light. “You know the way, terrible akuma. Go find your prey. Fly away and go darken his heart!” And with those orders, the little black butterfly phased out of the cane's handle and fluttered strait towards its prey.

~*~

Ivan never saw the butterfly coming, never heard the beating of little papery wings. Never noticed the lyrics he had poured his soul into being corrupted. All he heard was that voice in his head as everything faded away. “ _This is your second chance, Stoneheart, and this time it will be easier. No one will stop you from having the one you love. In return, don't forget to repay my kindness..._ ”

Stoneheart stood from the locker room floor. Mylène would be his. She would pay for hurting him. And Marinette would pay for encouraging him to make a fool of himself. 

~*~

All through the city, Stonehearts came to life, causing destruction and havoc around them and attacking the police officers ordered to guard them before beginning to converge.

~*~

With a head-long charge, Stoneheart burst through the door, ripping it right off its hinges. He stopped at the front of the room, bellowing out “Mylène!” even as Kim shrieked like a little girl and tried to dive for cover. Nino slipped out the open doorway, Adrien only waiting seconds more before doing the same. Stoneheart moved for the petrified girl with lumbering steps as more and more of the class made a break for safety.

He knocked the desk she sat at out of his way, Alix and Alya each diving for cover and barely not getting hit. He lifted Mylène up as she struggled in his grasp to get away. “Let go of me, Ivan!”

“It is over. I'm not Ivan anymore, I am Stoneheart,” he told her.

“Why are you doing this?” she pleaded, scared.

“So you and I can be together forever!” Stoneheart insisted.

Across the hall from Mylène, Chloé cowered under her desk, cellphone in hand and her father's number ringing. He picked up on the other line and Chloé cried, “Papa! The monster, he's back!”

Her voice calling him a monster reminded Stoneheart of another source of pain. 'Once a monster, always a monster'? Oh, she would learn exactly what getting on a monster's bad side meant. “You!” he raged, kicking away the table and snatching up the screaming blond. In the background Alya stood, phone out and recording dutifully. Mlle Bustier holding her back away from the action. 

With both hands full, Stoneheart turned and marched strait through the outer wall of the school to get down to the street. Alya broke free of their teacher's hold and ran over to the new hole in the wall, getting a quick shot of Stone heart starting off down the road with Mylène and a screaming Chloé in his hands. Turning to Marinette, Alya insisted, “Come on, come, we'll follow them!” as if she were unable to understand why anyone wouldn't. Marinette, who was ducked hidden at the back of the class with Kim, Max, Juleka, and Alix. Everyone else had fled the room when they had the chance.

“Er... no no, you go ahead, I'd rather stay here, safe...” Marinette insisted. She was giving up her Miraculous for a reason, she didn't want to be on the front line of battle. She wasn't the sort of person cut out for it.

“But you're going to miss Ladybug's going into action!” Alya argued, as though not running head first into danger just for the chance to see a superhero was the crazy thing to do.

Marinette looked down to where their bench had been overturned when Ivan had gone for Mylène. There still laying on it was Alya's blue and grey bag, inside of which were the earrings that would grant Alya the power to become Ladybug. Marinette purposefully walked down the steps and picked the bag up, she held it up to Alya and said, “You and Ladybug, you'll make it out better without me.”

Realizing there was no arguing with Marinette on this matter, and knowing she was missing the action, Alya finally just shrugged. “As you wish!” she called, turning and running out the door, leaving behind Marinette holding her school bag.

“Hey, you're forgetting your bag!” Marinette called after her, but Alya didn't turn around. Seeing no other option, Marinette put the strap over her head and ran out to chase Alya down.

~*~

Having successfully given the other students in the class the slip, Adrien dipped into the boy's changing room. There was no one present as gym class had already started and the fleeing students hadn't paused to try and hide. “My first day of school, and I barely even make it past lunch,” he complained, reaching into his pocket to make sure Plagg was awake. Ze had been sleeping when Adrien had checked on hir earlier.

It had been a problem because Chloé had asked that morning what the weird lump under his shirt was, and he had lied and said it was his wallet full of cash. Then they had gone for lunch, and she had expected him to pay like usual and he had to distract her before he could pull his real wallet out and pay with his debit card where she wasn't around. He'd have to think up a way to carry Plagg without being so conspicuous from now on.

Pulling hir out by the scruff of hir neck, Plagg pulled loose almost immediately. “Well, I guess school's out for the rest of the day?”

“Oh, no no no no. We've got homework to do,” Adrien cut off, shaking his finger at the little cat. “Transform moi!”

~*~

“I think you're not fully aware who I am,” Chloé was saying as Stoneheart carried her and Mylène through the streets of Paris. “My Père, he's the Mayor of Paris. He's going to make the police step in. The army! In short, the entire cavalry!”

“Let's not forget the superheroes!” Chat Noir added, jumping in and striking Stoneheart on the head with his staff again as he passed. As he had last time, Stoneheart glowed yellow for a moment before getting larger again. “Oh, right, sorry!” Chat called casually.

Chloé let out a sound of frustration, “You mean super incompetent?!” she shot as an insult down at her friend she couldn't recognize.

“Aah, you wanted the cavalry, eh?” Stoneheart quipped as a number of smaller copies ran into the intersection from every direction. “Well, here it comes!” As they moved in, surrounding the lone hero on all sides, Stoneheart ordered, “Capture him!”

Chat Noir was forced to focus on dodging the reaching hands of the ten or so smaller Stonehearts while the larger one carrying the two hostages continued on his way. Chat Noir moved to try and follow, but the so-called cavalry kept him occupied and at bay. 

“Ivan,” Mylène managed to get out in a small voice, drawing Stoneheart's attention to her. “Where are we going?”

“I have a message to pass on,” he informed. “Then, you and I, we'll be together _forever._ ”

Chloé let out a dramatic sigh, “If I'm in the way, you can drop me here, alright?”

“Don't worry, little monster, I'll also take care of you,” Stoneheart threatened, causing Chloé to pull into herself in fear.

~*~

Alya ran up onto the scene of Chat Noir vs the army of Stonehearts, excitement rising at the spectacle. They had made it out of the intersection and into the street that Stoneheart Prime had made his way down, but progress up the block was slow and difficult. Alya ducked behind a trash bin and readied her phone even as Chat Noir dodged a car hurtled at his head.

“Ladybug, if you hear me, I wouldn't be against a little hand!” he called to the surrounding rooftops, but didn't risk the chance to look around for her.

Alya, however, did scan for the missing heroine, but found nothing. “What is she waiting for?” Alya whispered.

Marinette rounded the corner just in time to see another car being hoisted over a Stoneheart's head. It threw the vehicle in a mostly downward motion, Chat Noir ducking only sparing him from getting decapitated by inches. Still, the momentum of the car pulled it into a rolling bounce that headed strait for Alya. Even as the reporter moved to dodge, she wasn't fast enough to go from a crouch to getting out of the way of a several ton hunk of metal hurtling towards her.

Marinette watched in abject horror as for the second time in two days Chat Noir turned his back on the danger and disarmed himself by throwing his baton to try and save Alya from getting crushed by flying debris. And just like last time, it resulted in his getting captured, this time the hand closing around his upper body and head. But unlike last time, the throw hadn't been a clean save, while the car didn't crush her outright, it still landed against Alya, pinning her to the wall of the building, crushing her slowly rather than immediately.

Even in this situation here, Chat Noir still struggled to resist, kicking his legs fruitlessly and calling out muffled curses in every language he knew how to curse in. Marinette meanwhile was frozen in horrified shock at the results of her own inaction as the small army of Stonehearts turned and began marching off down the street. Chat Noir managed to squirm to a position where he could make himself heard clearly, demanding, “Let go of me, rock pile!” to no avail.

Alya, on the other hand, was trapped and panicking, slowly being crushed to death. She let out a sobbing shriek, crying “HELP!!” into an empty street save for Marinette. That panicked, broken cry finally managed to cut through Marinette's shock, her mind working again as she realized that there was only one thing she could do right now. Digging into Alya's bag for the magic jewellery box, Marinette knew her friend's life was in danger and she didn't have time to think of herself.

She pulled it out, flipping it open without hesitation, practically ignoring the flash of red light as Tikki re-materialized. If she let herself think, she'd start to panic, all she could do at the moment as she put the earrings in was keep focused on what was immediately the next step that needed to take place. “I need Ladybug!” she stated in a rush when Tikki finally solidified once more. 

“I knew you'd change your mind!” Tikki chirped.

Marinette hesitated, “Well, I'm still not sure I'm cut out for this, but...” she looked over to the car that had her only friend pinned to the wall. The sound of her terrified sobbing reinforced Marinette's resolve. “Alya's in danger,” she stated, refocusing on the most important details. “I can't sit back and do nothing. Tikki, Transform moi!”

With the confidence of this form swelling through her, Ladybug immediately got to work, stringing her magic yo-yo around a few trees before letting it thread behind the car and return to her. With the trees as leverage points, she was able to pull the string and tip the car onto it's hood. Alya collapsed to the ground, unable to move with a shattered hip and broken ribs, but she wasn't the only one Ladybug had to save today. So after quickly making sure she wasn't bleeding out or anything, she handed Alya her phone and said, “I'm sorry I can't stay with you, but other people still need my help. Here, call for an ambulance.”

With that, she grabbed Chat Noir's discarded baton and swung off down the street towards where he was carted off to. She couldn't afford to stand around and worry about one girl at the risk of all of Paris. These Stoneheart akuma were dangerous, violent creations, and needed to be stopped fast. But she couldn't do it alone, and so her next step was saving the partner she never should have abandoned in the first place. 

It didn't take long for her to catch up, they were very slow moving after all, and she easily spotted the still struggling Chat Noir in the hands of one of the Stonehearts near the front of the line. Leaping off of one of the Stoneheart's heads, and then kicking off a wall to get the right angle, she threw the silver stick down into the top of the fist as she called, “Chat Noir, extend your staff!”

Immediately obeying, the staff forced the Stoneheart's hand open and the cat-boy dropped to the pavement with a roll. He sat up a moment and rubbed his head where the baton had hit. Ladybug threw her yo-yo around his leg so she could pull him to safety when the Stoneheart made another grab for him. He yelped in surprise, dangling upside-down from a lamp post she had used as a pulley to help her drag him over faster. “Sorry for the delay,” she told him once their eyes met. 

He smiled at her and shot off in return a confident, “Milady, I knew you'd come.”

“Milady?” she echoed. “You do know Paris already knows I'm called Ladybug, right? You don't have to keep with the nicknames...” She trailed off as she noticed the encroaching Stonehearts slowly surrounding the pair of fledgling heroes. “Say, fancy taking the high road? We gotta get out of here!”

Without giving him a chance to object, she jumped to the roof, dragging him along behind her by his ankle, before taking off along chimney tops, hopscotching along them as Chat righted himself and caught up. “Hey, we're not taking care of them?!” Chat called in confusion as they ran, passing by other Stonehearts that marched all in the same direction.

“No. If we want to save them all, there's only one we need to focus on,” Ladybug insisted, following the path the smaller Stonehearts were taking to its centre, the Eiffel Tower where the now absolutely massive Stoneheart Prime stood on the first platform. “It's this one.”

Police helicopters circled the scene, news helicopters hovering at a safer distance. Police had evacuated the area, putting up a barricade to keep civilians safely back, but the edge of the fenced off area still had a number of camera crews strategically placed to get the best angle on everything going down while their respective reporters described everything in horrific detail into microphones. The Mayor was handed a megaphone by a police officer in full-body swat gear. “I demand you give me my daughter back!”

Chloé, gripped in Stoneheart's hand, cried in terror, “Papa!”

“You know what? With great pleasure,” Stoneheart suddenly responded, before throwing Chloé at the line of police cars that the Mayor was being guarded behind on the far side of the river.

Several people shrieked in horror, including the Mayor. Chloé put her hands together mid-air and begged of any higher force that existed, “If I get out of this alive, I'll never say another mean thing again, I sw--” she cut herself off when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, holding her bridal style as they came to a screeching halt on the pavement. Opening her eyes, she found herself nose-to-nose with a kneeling Ladybug, having been saved from becoming the richest smear on the pavement by mere feet. She opened her mouth to express her gratitude, but what came out instead was “I didn't swear.”

Ladybug gave her a baffled look, “What?” but didn't press the issue when Chloé squirmed free of her grasp and ran to hug her father instead.

Chat Noir looked on as Oncle André enveloped his oldest friend in a loving hug before turning his eyes filled with more relief and gratitude than he knew how to express onto his partner. In the background he could hear the Mayor, “Oh, my little princess!”

“We're clear to attack!” officer Raincomprix announced.

“Wait! No, don't attack him! You'll only make things worse!” Ladybug warned desperately.

“No, we don't need superheroes!” the policeman insisted. “Let the professionals do it, you've already failed!”

Ladybug flinched back at that statement, face crumpling in guilt and shame, tears welling in her eyes. “It's true, he's right,” she said, voice so small as she turned away from the police officer and inadvertently towards Chat Noir instead. “If I had just captured Stoneheart's akuma, none of this would have happened. All those people wouldn't have been turned into Stonehearts, and Alya wouldn't have nearly been crushed to death by a car and Ivan wouldn't be having to go through this a second time and people wouldn't be getting hurt and I don't know what I'm doing I shouldn't be doing this I'm really not cut out to be a superheroine--”

Chat Noir had heard enough. As he watched her ramble her face became increasingly pale, her eyes growing wider and more unfocused. Her breath was becoming nothing more than little gasps squeezed in between words that were spoken in a voice somewhere between hysterical and breathless. With sickening clarity, Chat Noir realized Ladybug was terrified and only barely holding it together through sheer determination and sense of responsibility. It was heartbreaking that this girl—his soulmate, the one who completed him—felt so helpless and scared while trying to take the world on her shoulders all alone. 

Firmly grasping her shoulders to help ground her back in reality, Chat Noir cut her rambling off before she could reach a full-blown panic attack. “What are you talking about, that's not true. Because without you, this girl wouldn't be here anymore,” he reminded, angling his partner so she could see Chloé being coddled by her father. “Without you, I'd still be captured by Stoneheart—hell, I'd still be captured by _that_ Stoneheart!” he said, gesturing to the large Stoneheart Prime on the Eiffel Tower. “Without you, we never would have defeated him yesterday in the first place. All of that was you. And so you screwed up and made a mistake! So what? Point me to the person that's never messed up! But if you can't, then stop beating yourself up over being human. Without us, they won't make it, and we're going to prove it to them. I'm here with you. Trust me. Alright?”

She looked up at him with eyes searching for any judgment or rejection, but saw only honesty shining back at her. He was asking her to trust in him, to trust in the truth of her own actions rather than the downward spiral of her panicked thoughts. It was hard, she wasn't sure if she really could, but she wanted to try. So she wiped away the few tears that had managed to leak out of her eyes and put on the brightest, bravest smile she could muster. “Alright.”

Before their heartfelt moment could continue, Stoneheart Prime let out a sudden scream, followed by hacking and coughing as he doubled over in what looked like pain. He coughed up a small, purple stone into his free hand before throwing his head back and a cloud of black butterflies emitted from his mouth. As he fell over onto his back, frozen stiff as the fake Stonehearts had been, the butterflies formed themselves into a giant head. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the head addressed Paris at large, “listen to me carefully. I am Le Papillon!”

“Le Papillon?” the young heroes echoed in unison.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me your Miraculous: the red beetle's earrings and the black cat's ring, and everything will go back to normal. The people have suffered enough because of you!”

Something snapped in Ladybug, fear giving way to a primal desperation to survive no matter the cost. Feeling backed into a corner, all she had left to do was bare her fangs. “What?! How _dare_ you threaten us with the safety of Paris!” she screeched up at the head.

“Your evil ways have gone on long enough--” Papillon attempted to continue painting the narrative, but the teenager wasn't going to have it.

“Oh, that's _rich_ coming from the likes of _you_! Don't you try and turn this on us! Not when _you're_ a ball of butterflies that came out of the akuma's mouth and _we're_ the ones who showed up to save everyone last time! Not to mention, may I _remind_ you that the ball of butterflies are the _same ones_ that cameras _all over_ caught turning people into Stonehearts!?” Ladybug mouthed off indignantly, pointing an accusational finger at the head. “So no, we are _not_ going to give you our Miraculous! In fact, because you're too much of a coward to come out and face us yourself, we'll just have to find you, drag you out of your little hidey-hole, and take _your_ Miraculous instead!” she insisted boldly, marching towards the Eiffel Tower until she worked herself into a run. 

Using her yo-yo to pull her into the air, she declared “I free you from evil!” She swung her yo-yo all around, slicing through the head over and over again until all of the black butterflies had been captured inside. Turning back to the police helicopters and the news helicopters beyond, Ladybug addressed the people of Paris. “I make a promise to you! No matter whether some try to hurt you, Chat Noir and I will do everything in our power to help you!” She opened her yo-yo up, and a wave of white butterflies burst forth, letting with it an explosion of positive energy that everyone felt surge through them, leaving all of Paris cheering and celebrating.

Finally managing to pick his jaw up off the ground, Chat Noir whispered to himself, “Wow. Doesn't matter who's under that mask, but... I love this girl.”

~*~

However, while the rest of Paris celebrated, Papillon was less thrilled with this development. “That's the problem with superheroes, they're too... heroic! Stoneheart!” he barked, forcing his mind into contact with Stoneheart Prime. “They're going to come try to tear your loved one away from you! Take their Miraculous. After that, they won't be able to do anything against you!”

~*~

Back on the Eiffel Tower, behind Ladybug's back, Stoneheart Prime sat up. “Okay, Papillon,” he said as the glowing butterfly mask wore off. He looked at Ladybug, at the akumatized paper ball he had hacked back up in his palm, then at Mylène in his other hand. 

The motion caught Ladybug's attention as Stoneheart placed Mylène into the same hand as the purple rock and closed his fingers around both of them. “Help! Help me!” Mylène cried as Chat finally finished vaulting himself up next to Ladybug.

“You will never take Mylène from me!” Stoneheart insisted, before turning and running to one of the large corner beams which he began to climb.

“What is this, the Empire State Building?” Chat Noir said incredulously under his breath, earning a rueful smirk from Ladybug.

“Help me!” Mylène continued to scream, now that she had seemed to find her voice.

“Come, my stone men!” Stoneheart Prime ordered, and all around the other Stonehearts began surging forward and up the sides of the tower.

Chat Noir looked over the edge, before turning back to Ladybug to inform her, “They're coming! What do we do, we can't even hit them!”

“Yeah, but we know where his akuma is!” Ladybug insisted, turning her eyes to the source of everything.

“Yeah, in the closed fist, the one holding Mylène. So what?” Chat asked.

“Okay, so we know he's in love with her...” Ladybug began to try and put all her resources together so she knew what she had to work with. “Oh, that's it! We don't have to separate Mylène from Stoneheart, on the contrary, we have to bring them closer together! They're made for each other!” she suddenly gushed, sounding rather like the young teenaged girl she was. “They just don't know it yet!”

Giving no further explanation, she took off towards the top of the tower herself. “Er, I don't understand everything, but oh well, I trust you. In any case, I feel like it's going to work like this a lot, you and me. But it's nice to know you're such a romantic,” Chat Noir monologued to himself as she had already taken off. When he was done, he bounded off after her.

Ladybug landed on the very top of the tower and looked down, while Chat Noir stopped on the top observation deck instead. Mylène looked at them and cried, “Help me! I'm scared of heights!” as she reached her arms out towards the two heroes who were still above her.

“Don't worry, everything will be alright!” Ladybug called back. Stoneheart roared with such ferocity it forced the police helicopters away from him. At the same time, the other Stonehearts finally started reaching the observation deck Chat Noir was standing on. Now it was time for him to do his part, to be her knight and keep the monsters at bay from his Lady.

“How do you intend to bring them closer than they already are?” he asked, wanting to be prepared to help in any way she needed him.

“By using our powers!” she responded, throwing her yo-yo into the air. “Lucky Charm!” She caught the item that dropped and blinked at it. “A parachute? What am I supposed to do with this?” The only thing she could think of was jumping, but she wasn't sure how that would help in the given circumstances.

Chat Noir went flying behind her, having been knocked into the air by a rather aggressive kick from one of the Stonehearts. He grabbed a beam on his way back down and used momentum to swing atop it. “Are you sure you have control over your power?!” he asked, seriously, two out of two weird objects appeared.

“Well, we'll see!” she said, putting the parachute on. She then sent her yo-yo flying, having it hook around the back of Stoneheart Prime's neck and his forearm that was holding Mylène before it came back up and she caught it. “Chat Noir, get ready!” she warned, before pulling with all of her might.

With the way Stoneheart was looking at the hand Mylène was in, when Ladybug pulled back on the string it forced the hand to his face and her lips to his. Startled by this, Stoneheart let go of Mylène, and she and the akumatized item began to fall. Chat Noir dove of the platform, extending his baton against the underside of the platform for an extra bit of speed to catch up to everything that was falling. Twisting mid-air, Chat used his staff to bat the akumatized ball back up to Ladybug, before twisting back around and grabbing Mylène around the waist. He then stuck his staff between the crisscrossing beams of the Eiffel Tower's support structures to catch the both of them.

Above him he heard Ladybug call, “Okay, I got it!” as she caught the ball. So, Chat Noir started helping Mylène get back to solid ground. Ladybug opened her yo-yo once more as the akuma tried to make a break for it. “You've done enough harm, little akuma. I free you from evil!” However, just like the last time the releasing of the akuma returned Ivan to his normal self in a cloud of purple-black smoke and bubbles. Acting fast, Ladybug threw her yo-yo up to the fleeing butterfly, before launching herself off the top of the tower and towards the falling Ivan. Getting hold of him, Ladybug pulled him close before yanking the release string of her parachute. 

They reached the ground at a gentle float about the same time a smiling Chat Noir finished carrying Mylène down. Ladybug opened her yo-yo one last time for the day, letting the original akuma loose in it's newly purified state. “Bye-bye, little butterfly!” she called after it, and Chat Noir couldn't help but make a fuss at how cute she was.

Remembering the last thing Tikki said she was to do—because she didn't want to make anymore mistakes, so she was making sure she thought clearly through all the steps—Ladybug gathered the parachute back up into it's container and threw the whole thing into the sky with a cry of “Miraculous Ladybug!” She watched as the parachute burst into a billion ladybugs bathed in a magical pink light that shot out in all directions, restoring the other Stonehearts, repairing the damaged streets and property, even fixing officer Raincomprix's broken arm.

“Wow! Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” Chat Noir asked. 

“Yes! It's marvellous, and incredible, and-and... miraculous!” she cheered.

As the magic cleared, it was Chat Noir who held his fist up, eyes full of naked affection and admiration. “Bien joué!” they chorused as their fists met. Ladybug's earrings then let out a beep, so she turned to Mylène and Ivan. “You ought to have some things to say to each other, you two.”

“Oh, erm...” Ivan fumbled nervously, unable to meet anyone's eye. “Erm...”

Ladybug picked up the once akumatized lyrics and held them out to Mylène. “Perhaps you should read the lyrics of his song.”

> _  
> _
> 
> Mylène, my oxygen  
>  The prettiest of the middle-schoolers  
>  Stronger than an oak  
>  For others you fight  
>  Will you be my Queen?
> 
> Answer me, Mylène  
>  Look at me, Mylène  
>  I will never hurt you

“Wow!” she breathed, face flushing at the lyrics. “It's really so pretty! Too bad I didn't understand anything when you were yelling—er, when you were singing...”

“I scared you, huh, is that it? That's why you left...” Ivan clarified. “I'm sorry, I'll sing more calmly...” Mylène just giggled and jumped into his arms.

At a distance, Chat Noir and Ladybug looked on. “Awa, they are made for each other!” she cooed, folding her hands by her face.

“You're right, Milady!” Chat Noir said, reaching over to try and take one of her hands. “But they're not the only ones...”

Her earrings beeped again and Ladybug let out a panicked gasp. “Oh, I have to go before I transform back! Until next time Chat Noir!” she called, turning and dashing off some distance before she could throw her yo-yo and take off roof-side.

Chat waved goodbye to her as she went, before stopping and dropping into an extravagant bow. “Oh, I can't wait, Milady.”

~*~

“This isn't over. It's only the beginning, Ladybug! Chat Noir and you may have won this battle, but I'll win the war!” Papillon threatened in his empty room. “One day, I'll seize your Miraculous, and then I'll obtain the ultimate power!”

~*~

Adrien sat in his room, half watching the evening news show the police cleanup after the akuma battle. The camera was showing an image of Chat Noir, who had lingered after the fight because he could, talking to the Mayor about the situation and to the police officers. Plagg sat on his coffee table, a full plate of Camembert for him to work his way through.

The television switched to an interview being conducted with Majestia, a representative of the League of Heroes. “ _As the Paris situation seems to have been cleared up, we at the League do not feel it necessary at the moment to intervene. From what we have seen of the situation, Paris's new heroes seem to be on top of the matter. Their understanding of what's going on puts them in the best position to be the ones in charge of this new supervillain, Le Papillon._ ” The American hero was talking in English, but helpful subtitles played for the sake of those who did not understand the language.

“ _So you intend to abandon Paris?_ ” one sensationalist reporter asked.

“ _No, if the situation becomes more dire, the League of Heroes will consider stepping in. But as of this moment, we feel our resources are better allocated to areas that do not have their own teams of dedicated heroes to watch over them,_ ” Majestia countered.

“ _Do you plan on making Ladybug and Chat Noir_ (Adrien flinched at the horrible mispronunciation of his name) _members of the League of Heroes?_ ” another reporter asked.

“ _There is no plans on that currently, but like any other hero out there, we may extend an invitation once they have had a chance to prove themselves a little more. I will admit, their power set, from what I've seen, does pose an impressive potential, especially that Miracle Cure of Ladybug's, but they have their own supervillain to deal with right now, and we would not wish to deprive Paris of their protectors while he is at large._ ”

It was then the television switched back to the news anchor discussing what this means for Paris and their future, and relaying to the public some of the information Chat Noir had briefed the officials about. Simple things like what an akuma is and why it might target someone; the fact the possessed person has no control of their actions nor memory of the event afterwards, and thus should not be blamed; etc.

Adrien stopped listening once the news was no longer focused on Majestia's interview about them. Instead, he ran through the day's events in his mind and came back to one rather disturbing memory. “Plagg... Ladybug is _scared_...” he finally admitted.

Plagg looked at him for a moment before saying, “Yeah, that's pretty normal for new heroes for their first few fights. She'll get over it soon, like everyone does.”

“No, she's like... _really scared,_ ” Adrien tried to explain. “Like, more than normal kind of scared. And I... I don't _want_ her to be scared. There has to be some way I can help her... right?”

Plagg shrugged. “If she's cut out to be a Beetle, she'll get over it. If not, it'll break her.”

“No! I... there has to be something--” Adrien pleaded, horrified at the idea of her _breaking_. He loved her, there was no way he could sit back and let something so horrible happen to her without giving everything he had to prevent it. But he cut short when Plagg dropped the wedge of cheese ze was holding and zipped under one of the throw-pillows on his sofa as the door to his room swung open.

Nathalie walked in with her tablet in her hands, Gabriel Agreste's face displayed in the face-time window. Because of course his father was three rooms over and one floor down, but he couldn't be bothered to come and yell at his son himself. Adrien sulked into a petulant slouch, knowing it would make his father angrier, but not caring. If the man couldn't be bothered to come see him, he couldn't stop him from having whatever posture he so chose.

Gabriel glared at the pose, and Adrien straitened himself up a bit. Still not back to perfect posture, but better than the full-on slouch he had put himself in moments before. “ _Adrien, you disobeyed me, and I can not tolerate that. I explicitly told you that the streets of Paris are too dangerous for my son to be wandering, and yet for two days in a row you have run wild through them just to attend some collège! Never again, and I mean never again, will you go..._ ”

“Oh, Père, no...” Adrien interjected, eyes brimming with tears.

Gabriel didn't even pause his lecture, however, let alone acknowledge what his son said. “ _...gallivanting around Paris without your bodyguard! So, from tomorrow morning on wards, he will be dropping you off and picking you up every day. If you attempt to leave without him again, I will have no choice but to return you to being home-schooled permanently, do I make myself clear? Nathalie has organized a new schedule for you. You will continue your music, Chinese, and fencing classes, and of course the photo shoots._ ”

Adrien had the biggest grin on his face he'd had in years. “Oh, thank you, Nathalie! Thank you so much, Père!”

~*~

The next morning, Marinette walked to the school with Alya. “So, by the time the ladybugs had got to me and I managed to make it to the Eiffel Tower, it was all over! Even Chat Noir had already left, even though he helped out for a while after the fight this time! I'm so mad!”

“But Alya, didn't you almost die? Twice now?! Don't you think it's better if you don't run off after supervillains?” Marinette countered.

“No way!” Alya insisted. “Just like the journalists reporting from the front lines of a hurricane, sometimes a reporter has to be willing to put their lives on the line to let people know the situation! Think about it, Marinette! If it weren't for me risking my life, the people of Paris wouldn't have known what became of Stoneheart that first time! And if they didn't know that, they could still be hiding away in fear, or could have fallen for that ploy from Papillon! And Chat Noir said that it's negative feelings like fear, or anger, or sadness that draw those akuma-butterfly things to you! People need to know the truth!”

“...It's really important to you, huh?” Marinette realized.

“Of course! Loads of superheroes in the past had teams of reporters helping them research crimes and uncover the bad guy! Hell, Ultraman from back in the forties was even revealed after his death to have been a reporter himself! If I can manage it, I'll do whatever I can to help Ladybug and Chat Noir uncover Le Papillon and bring him to justice!” Alya declared.

Marinette smiled at her boisterous friend. “I'm sure you can do it, Alya, and I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir would appreciate the sentiment. Just... promise me you'll be more careful from now on? I don't want anything happening to you...”

Alya's smile turned softer, “You got it, girl. I'll invest in a phone with a better camera, and I'll keep further back from the fights and just use zoom to get a closer look from now on.”

A flash of something shiny caused Marinette's head to swivel, just in time to see Adrien Agreste climb out of the back seat of a fancy silver car. “Thanks, Gorille! I'll see you in a few hours!” he was saying, waving to the person in the driver's seat. He wore an expression that looked like sunshine, and even Marinette had to admit he looked beautiful right then, despite his attitude problem. He turned towards the steps and noticed the girls watching him, his expression suddenly falling to something akin to bashfulness. He offered a tentative smile and wave up at the pair, saying a quiet, “Good morning...”

Marinette gave an indignant huff and turned her nose up at him, spinning on her heel to enter the school, and so missing the way his shoulders drooped and he gave a regretful sigh. Instead she entered the courtyard, spotting Ivan and Mylène sitting together, and smiled happily for them. Ivan noticed her look and waved. “Morning, Marinette,” he greeted.

Marinette froze, blinked, and then shyly returned the greeting before hurrying off to the locker room, not really sure of what just happened. Mylène looked at her new boyfriend in equal confusion, “You said good morning... to Marinete?!”

Ivan just shrugged. “Yeah, well, it was Marinette that encouraged me to confess to you yesterday, when I was feeling almost ready to give up. She was the one who suggested I write you a song...”

Mylène's eyes lit up at the reminder of the lyrics now taped up beside her bed, and eyed the direction the blunette had vanished in. “You mean, it's thanks to her that I now have the best boyfriend in the world?” she asked thoughtfully a moment later, snuggling up to Ivan's side. And Ivan was on cloud nine.

~*~

As they entered class that morning, Marinette noticed that Chloé and Sabrina hadn't yet come in. Her favourite seat and the one beside it were empty. She thought back to what Alya had said the first day of classes. That Marinette could change, that she could become better by just taking one little step at a time. Chloé might be scary, and evil, but Ladybug had held her life in her hands just the afternoon previous. Marinette was Ladybug, and though Chloé might not be some Papillon, she could be a very good first step for Marinette. 

So, when Alya moved to go sit in their front row seats, Marinette reached out and grabbed her wrist. “No, wait,” she insisted, and instead started climbing the stairs. Realizing what Marinette intended, Alya grinned excitedly and hurried to join her.

When a minute later, Chloé and Sabrina escorted Adrien into the room, Chloé came to a halt and glared. “You've got the wrong seats, you two,” she warned. “Go sit somewhere else!” she demanded, pointing to the front row.

“The only thing that lets evil prevail is the inaction of good men,” Marinette quoted at her. 

Adrien's eyes lit up a little, as Chloé grew cold. “And can we know what that means?” she asked, voice brittle and challenging. The sound of it had the hairs on Marinette's arms standing on end, but she was Ladybug. If she couldn't even stand up for herself against a schoolyard bully, how was she going to face down Papillon?

“It simply means I won't be pushed around, Chloé,” Marinette explained. “Not me, nor anyone else in this class!” Pushing herself to her feet, she did a wonderful impression of Chloé a moment before as she pointed to the front row. “So, for starters, you're going to do me the pleasure of sitting somewhere else!”

The class actually laughed at this unexpected turn of events, Alix even cheered a “Here, here! Down with the wicked witch!” for good measure.

Nino turned an looked measuringly at the blunette. “If I can _survive_ you, I guess it's better you than _Chloé_ and her _groupie_...”

Chloé was furious, practically in tears. What was so evil about wanting to keep an eye on her childhood friend who didn't even know how to behave in school? She didn't want some crazy fangirl stalker to be sitting behind him and drooling over him all day, and Marinette was a fashion geek so surely she'd be all over Adrichou, the son of the most popular fashion mogul in all of France! This was Adrichou's dream, and she just wanted him to be happy! How was that _evil_?!

But ever the pacifier, Adrien put a hand on Chloé's shoulder and gave her a warm smile. Not one of his model ones, but one that was real and let Chloé know he actually did love her. “It's okay either way, right? Please, Chloé? I'd really like it to be able to look over and see your face whenever...”

It was those honest sorts of words he'd say that always managed to strip away any facade she tried to wear to protect them with. She sighed heavily, and looked from Adrien to Marinette and back again. She knew Marinette was his type: cute, sweet, little, Asian girl. And he was the type to find her scatterbrained klutziness endearing rather than a turnoff. He was already oddly obsessive over her, so perhaps keeping her from somewhere he could stare at her all day would be for the best... She sighed again. “Oh, fine...” she relented, storming over to her seat across the isle from him.

He smiled again at Chloé, a thankful one this time for her giving in and not causing problems, before sinking into his seat much more shyly. He turned to look up at the girls that would be sitting behind him from now on. “That was Majestia's favourite quote, are you a fan of hers...?” he asked, trying to open a conversation. While Alya seemed open to the idea of having someone to talk superheroes with, Marinette just turned her nose up at him again.

The teacher started class shortly after, and Nino leaned over to whisper “Dude, you wanted to make friends, right? You should talk to Marinette. If you just explain about the gum thing, she'll practically fall all over herself to apologize for the misunderstanding. Or, well, given that it's Marinette, it could also be literally falling all over herself, but...” Nino shrugged.

“But what am I gonna tell her?” Adrien questioned.

“You just have to tell her the truth,” Nino insisted, shooting finger guns at Adrien.

~*~

By the time school let out that afternoon, the sky was almost black with the thick rain clouds. Water poured down in practical buckets with no sign of letting up in sight. Marinette held her hand out from under the cover to check the temperature, and pulled her hand back again only a second later, already practically soaked.

She sighed, putting her bag down and knowing she'd have a while to wait before things got better. Adrien stepped up beside her a minute later, his umbrella ready to be opened, but paused when he saw her. “Hi,” he tried, in his friendliest tone. Marinette turned away from him with a huff once again, sounding more sulky this time than hotty. Adrien looked away again, regret swelling inside of him. He opened his umbrella and took a few steps out into the rain before pausing to talk. “I wanted you to know that... Last time, I really was trying to remove the gum from your chair... It's true, you know.”

Marinette stared at him, her large blue eyes looking even rounder as she dipped her chin shyly and looked up at him through her bangs and long lashes. Her attentiveness gave him the courage to keep talking as he took in her face, her lips puckering into a cute little 'oh' position even though she didn't make a peep. “I never went to school before... I never had any friends. All this, for me, it's-it's a bit new.”

Then, purely on impulse, Adrien reached out his hand, holding the umbrella over her instead, ignoring the rain that was quickly coming to soak him through. He smiled at her gently, an affection he didn't quite understand swelling up inside of him. There was a crash of thunder somewhere in the distance that made Marinette gasp quietly. Then, tentatively, her hand reached out. Their fingers barely brushed each other, and she jumped away as if shocked by static electricity before reaching again and taking the umbrella fully in her own hand.

She looked at him in awe, as though she had never seen another person before that moment. Her hand tightened around the umbrella handle as she looked into his deep green eyes, lost herself watching the rain droplets drip from his hair and trickle down the side of his cheek. He was beautiful, there was no other word for it, like the stories in their history books about the Greek heroes Narcissus or Adonis or--

She had accidentally squeezed too hard on the handle, one of her fingers over top of the release button, and the umbrella snapped shut over her head. His laughter rang out, clear and crisp and true. Marinette knew laughter, she had heard it countless times in her short thirteen and a half years of life. People were always laughing at her for being a klutzy mess. But not like this. Oh, his laughter was plenty amused by the absurdity of the situation, no doubt about it, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of malice about it.

Suddenly wanting to see what that looked like more than anything, a blushing Marinette pushed the edge of the umbrella up and ducked her head underneath of it. He looked so genuinely happy that Marinette couldn't help but let out a little giggle of her own. Noticing his laughter might come off as rude, Adrien coughed into his hand to get his lungs back under control and quickly said, “I'll see you tomorrow, then!” before turning and walking away.

Finally managing to find her voice, Marinette called softly, “Yes, see you to... see you marrowto... Why am I stuttering?” 

Tikki zipped out and giggled, “I have a little idea why!” which caused Marinette to look away and blush.

On his way to the car, Adrien heard Plagg complain, “Is there some reason your little girlfriend couldn't have walked us to the car under the umbrella so we didn't get soaking wet?”

“Psh, you're talking nonsense, she's just a friend!” Adrien insisted, looking down at hir. Then he gasped at the sound of it. “...A friend!” He couldn't quite cover his internal squeal of excitement at the knowledge that he had just made a friend, all by himself! He went the rest of the way to the car le Gorille was patiently waiting in and slid into his seat, quietly apologizing to the large man for getting them wet. For once, it seemed le Gorille didn't seem quite so strict, though. He wondered why.

Marinette stood at the top of the steps as she watched Adrien's car pull away and drive out of sight, before she gave another hearty sigh and picked up her backpack so she could start heading home herself.

Unnoticed by either teen, an old man in a red Hawaiian shirt stood on the opposite corner of the school grounds, watching the whole scene play out with a smile. Wayzz floated up beside Master Fu and nodded. “Excellent choice, Master.”

Master Fu stroked his beard as he looked over at the little turtle kwami. “Those two are made for each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there you have it folks. An explanation for why the Akuma Class is constantly targeted so heavily by Papillon. Marinette takes her first steps into becoming the Everyday Ladybug. Alya has a real solid reason for putting herself in danger for her blog, while also getting a bit of perspective on the fact that this isn't a game. And Chloe actually manages to not be an absolutely horrible person and actually have reasons that she and Adrien might still call each other friends. And Adrien himself is off on a quest to save his Lady's sanity.
> 
> Up next is a bridge chapter with an OC Akuma. I know what the theme is, but I'm still working on a name, power set, and physical attributes. So the chapter might take a bit longer to come out. The purpose of it will be to flesh out our cast a little more and act as a transition piece between where this ends and where the next episode begins.


	3. Bridging the Gap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the second week of school and time for relationships to begin to grow and develop. The class is given a week-long essay assignment about their futures that makes them start questioning who they are and what they want to be in life. This one is mainly just build-up for future character arcs. Though it does strongly focus on Nino and Alya.
> 
> \----
> 
> Nino rolled his head a little to look at Adrien out of the corner of his eye. “Don't know what to write,” Nino explained.
> 
> “What, not anything? Not even a vague idea or an interest or like... something you wanted to be when you were little?” Adrien pressed.
> 
> “No...” Nino said in defeat. “Well...” he added, looking like he was thinking of something for a moment, before his eyes dulled again. “No... it's stupid.”
> 
> “What?” Adrien pressed, leaning in conspiratorially. “I won't laugh, promise.”
> 
> Nino looked at him a long moment more, gauging the blond's honesty as well as his own resolve. Finally he gave a deep sigh and admitted, “DJ... I kind of... always wanted to be a DJ? I like music and...” he trailed off, embarrassed.
> 
> Adrien blinked twice, then furrowed his brow. “Why is that stupid?” he asked, honestly not understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so at 15,000 words and only less than a third of the way through the akuma fight in the chapter and several scenes penned in for after the fight is over, it was pointed out to me that people may not like a 25,000+ word chapter just because that's everything that I wanted to get addressed before the next cannon episode of the story. So I chose a semi-decent stopping point mid-way through the chapter and am uploading it as it's own chapter. It's around 10,000 words so not too small, but it should be enough to tide my readers over until I can slog my way through the rest of the stuff I've got to write.
> 
> As for the names dropped in this chapter, quite frankly I haven't a clue on who any of them are. I've never been one to keep up with pop-culture, and names often escape me even for my close friends. I would have been the sort of girl that would be Lila's nightmare, every celebrity she would try to name-drop would be at best vaguely recognized and absolutely not cared about. You want to talk a specific character arc or the overall plot of some movie, I'm your girl. But you go name-dropping some actor or try and reference other rolls and they've played and I'm lost. I literally googled "European Indie Director" and found a "100 directors to follow" list and picked 3 names out of it more or less at random. So in short, don't blame me for name dropping them, I don't know who they are, just that they weren't at the top of the list and the girl was higher up than the guys.
> 
> Similarly, as far as fashion goes, I wear what I like and don't care what other people choose to wear, so I just kind of made up some things that I thought sounded semi-original. What I do know about the design process is that you always make a lot of duds before you create something that's gold so I didn't really focus on describing something that would necessarily look all that great in real life, just things to explain that she was trying lots of things that were different from each other and from what was commonly done.
> 
> Currently speaking, the next chapter is already a little under 6000 words, over half of which is directly dedicated to the fight scene in some form or another.

Marinette sat on her chaise lounge, boxes of old fashion magazines spread open around her. She had never really focused on male fashion before, not having access to a man that could model for her besides her father. She had done a few touches to things of his in the past, like tailoring his shirts so they fit better, or adding a bit of embroidery to make an outfit look more fancy. But it always just felt like women had so much _more_ in the fashion world.

Guy's clothes just didn't have the range of expression or colour that women's outfits did, it seemed. It had never interested her before. But... finding out Adrien wasn't some rich, snobby jerk had made her curious about his work. After all, if they were going to be friends like she thought he was indicating he wanted, she should know about him and support his work, right? And now that she was actually _looking_ , she found so much more than she had ever expected.

Subtle differences in cut, layers and accessories, strategic usage of zippers... Nothing truly unique to only mens fashion, but all so different on a male physique. (And that smouldering look he was giving the camera in that one photo where he was modelling men's jewellery did things to her she wasn't quite ready to acknowledge she could feel yet... He looked so good, laying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, white dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and with the top button or two undone.) Her fingers itched to draw, inspiration struck. Loose falling vest over a tight shirt, full scarf with short tassels to complete the image. A modified cut to a letterman jacket, to give it short sleeves and a more punkish edge. Adding a swath of plaid and chains to a sleveless dress shirt to give it attitude. Intricate cording to the lapel and sleeves of a business suit, making it look fancy yet classy.

Page after page of sketched out ideas, some of them gold while others of them flops, but she kept them all because something might be able to come from them one day. Inspiration continued to hit as Marinette explored fully the aspects of art that male fashion had suddenly opened for her. Somewhere along the way, without even noticing, Marinette had begun designing clothes specifically for Adrien, rather than just some hypothetical male model. He just had those perfect young-boy proportions, it was so easy to imagine him in a million different things.

Marinette hadn't been this creative in years, she was sure it had to do with her foray into a new genre, and not just because Adrien made such an amazing muse. But she couldn't help it. She cut out a photo of him in sunset lighting and stuck it to her wall for colour reference. Then one of him under the harsh artificial lighting of in doors. Then two of him on bright sunny summer days because she liked the way he smiled in that second one. Then she had to take down some pictures of other models that she had up for reference to make room so she could add him in overcast lighting, and that shirt with the neat trim that she liked. (And somehow, the page where he modelled the jewellery ended up finding itself bookmarked and the magazine slipped discretely under her pillow.)

Before she knew it, her wall was covered with him. Everywhere she looked had his soft golden locks, his vibrant green eyes, his full pink lips... and none of it was the looks she had seen of him in the rain that day. Her eyes flitted over to the umbrella sitting innocently against the wall of her room. She knew she had to return it to him soon, but finding a way to do so just seemed so hard. She couldn't just bring it into class with her and hand it back in front of everyone, but waiting for a rainy day as an excuse just seemed weird and creepy. Like she was carrying around an extra umbrella just to force it on him, even though it was his umbrella to begin with. How would that look? What would he say? And what if he already had a replacement and she just looked like a freak for trying to give him his back anyway?

Shaking the worry over the umbrella off, Marinette returned her gaze to her wall of Adrien, loosing herself in it for a bit. He really was exceptionally beautiful. It wasn't long before she started sketching again, lines and colours dedicated just to him, to ensure his figure popped, to bring out his eyes, to compliment his complexion. This was art at its finest, the truest expression of love and adoration being the time absorbed into the dedication of him. And still, her pencil flew.

Up on the banister surrounding Marinette's loft bed, Tikki lounged and watched hir chosen holder. Ze smiled down at the girl as she sat and drew, power of creation flooding through the connection the Miraculous gave them, feeding the creativity and giving it form. It was always so nice when holders made art, it fed hir power like nothing else, the raw potential to do more filling both girl and kwami, strengthening their magical bond.

~*~

Adrien clicked through article after article, reading up on scientific papers detailing fear. How it develops, the reasons it exists, the benefits it has on lifeforms as a whole. The ways the body reacts and deals with fear, fight or flight responses, reasons some people freeze up when scared, even things like why someone might wet themselves or defecate if made to be scared enough. The learned vs instinctual, the taught vs experienced, the otherness principle, and herd mentality. 

All valuable, important background information to better help him understand his Lady. She was scared of the supervillains. And regardless of what Plagg seemed to think, Adrien wasn't about to just sit back and let her break under the pressure of it. After all, Plagg had said that he and his partner had been specially chosen because they completed each other. Not just complimented each other's strengths, but made each other whole. In short, they were soulmates. And there was no way Adrien would ever turn his back on his soulmate.

Friends were hard enough for someone like him to come by. There was Chloé, and Félix sort of when he was around, and then just recently there was Nino and Marinette—at least, he thought he could count Marinette—and maybe Marinette's friend who runs the Ladyblog and he has to keep saving the life of. What was her name again, Alisha? Alice? Allie? It was an Al-something or other, at any rate. Point was, friends were rare and he would move mountains for them. So his one and only true love? He would kill and die for her without a second thought if need be.

So was it really a surprise that when he read an article that said one of the most effective ways to get over fear was through humour, he ended up with fifty comedy movies downloading, seven joke books added to his e-book collection, and a dozen or so articles on everything from the reasons people find jokes funny to the types of humour that are out there. Comedic timing was apparently a thing that made jokes funny more than the content of the joke, but apparently took trial and error to learn to do correctly. Only, some people seemed to have a natural talent for it while others never seemed to get it.

And then there was the type of joke to consider. This would be during the middle of a fight, so he doubted something like slapstick would be very practical. Also, any joke with a large build up to the punchline. So that removed stand-up comedy from the table, and besides most of those jokes only worked because the audience had come to the room with the intention of laughing anyway. Running gags might be good, but they're also something that has to be set up and established before they can be referenced. 

He outright vetoed anything risque, he wasn't even thirteen yet, he didn't think he could be comfortable spewing such lines, and he'd rather not have his mind going _there_ mid-fight. No, he considered himself a gentleman, and wouldn't lower himself to that level. Similarly, toilet humour seemed too immature. It was all fine and good among boys in école, but girls tended to be more refined from what he's seen and mature more quickly than boys in those early teen years. He didn't want to come off looking like some little kid that she couldn't take seriously. 

The goal was for her to like him. He wanted her to fall in love with him back so they could be together, so things that made him look bad were just not going to cut it. For that reason, self-deprecation was out as well, even if he probably could manage to pull it off. He also didn't think dark humour would be her thing, she was worried about the pain of others and so making fun of them would just make him seem like a jerk. Biting humour and satire were also rather jerkish things to say, and she seemed so sweet and to care so much, he doubted she'd enjoy them. They seemed more Plagg's style of humour than Ladybug's.

He would have tried anecdotes, but there wasn't much in his life that could be considered funny, and they had their secret identities to consider as well. Farce and irony were too situational to be relied on, though he could make use of them if the chance presented itself maybe? Eccentricity, while certainly fun, had too much potential for being annoying or even borderline self-deprecating, so he was hesitant to try, but maybe a little flair added to his persona here and there might not be too bad? It would definitely help separate Chat Noir from perfect model Adrien Agreste, at least.

Doing impressions or caricatures of people was another potential, but there was the risk of her not getting the reference, and they sometimes needed set-up that might not be doable in the middle of a battlefield. Also, too far or about the wrong subject matter could again make him out to be a jerk, so maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all. And dry humour seemed to require something to bounce off of for the best effect so he couldn't really master that on his own.

He knew he could probably pull off highbrow humour in a pinch. He knew enough about socialite life to pull the appropriate lines, but then he could also come off sounding like a snob. So really, that just left things like sarcasm, word plays, and other branches of wit. But wit could also seem pretentious? He sighed heavily. This was so much harder than he thought it would be when he first read about using humour. How would he know what would work, without coming off as a totally uncool idiot? Was he just supposed to try different styles of humour and see which ones got a laugh? What if none of them did because he sucked at comedic timing and she just ended up hating him for it?

So he started looking up how to tell what type of humour someone would like, and found a write up that nearly made his heart stop. Apparently, one of the main things girls looked for in a guy they wanted to date was that he could make her laugh. And suddenly this was so much more than just helping her cope with her fear. This was a requirement for winning her heart and ensuring they could be together for the rest of their lives. He had to get this right or he could ruin them.

This was suddenly so very scary. And he missed her so very much. It had only been two days since the fight against Stoneheart, and while he was thankful there were no other akuma going around and hurting people, some selfish part of him kind of wished there was. It was the only way he knew of to find her. If he transformed and went running across the city, would she see him and seek him out? Maybe, he'd love it if she did, but then it could also start up a stir if people mistook him running around as a sign of an akuma attack, and that could cause undue fear that could actually trigger an attack...

Desperate to see her in some way or other, Adrien found himself clicking onto the Ladyblog where Marinette's friend had posted the videos she had taken of their fights. The only one his Lady was in was the first day's battle, and some links to news clips featuring the two of them. He opened the first video and clicked along the time bar until he reached the fight in the stadium. He watched the events play out, him dancing around Stoneheart's attacks, Ladybug standing on the wall watching over the fight, him saving the civilian girl and his subsequent capture because of it, and Ladybug finally taking action to come to his rescue.

Then he heard her say something that hadn't really meant anything to him at the time: _“It's not nice to abuse animals!”_ She had quipped. When having to deal with the situation herself, she had resorted to wit and word games. And now that he was thinking back on it, when he had made that sarcastic reference to King Kong during the last fight, she had smiled. Not a large smile, and definitely not a laugh, but it had been there! Ladybug liked to quip.

Now having a direction, a half formed plan in mind, his research began anew.

~*~

School that following Monday started a little strange. For the first time since they met, Marinette had to walk to school and go to class by herself because Alya was running late. Marinette didn't know why, just that she had gotten a text at 7:02 that morning saying not to wait up for her and that she would explain everything later. So, Marinette slipped quietly into her seat, feeling oddly exposed without her new friend there to support her. 

Nino was already sitting in place, but the two didn't greet each other. The only ones in class besides the two new students who would even talk to her were Ivan and Mylène, and that was just because Marinette had helped them get together. More so than they realized, but the fact still stood that even if they wouldn't call her a friend they were still the only ones that would interact with her and not bully her. 

Speaking of Adrien, he entered the room with Chloé and Sabrina, talking to the girl on his arm about something Marinette didn't catch before stepping away so they could each sit at their own seats. How was it that over one weekend, just two days of not seeing him in person, she had somehow forgotten how amazing he was in motion? The way his eyes sparkled could never be captured on any camera in a way that did them justice, and his smooth motions were like watching flowing water. How could any being on this green earth ever be so perfect as Adrien Agreste?

He looked at her and smiled, just for her, opened his mouth and said, “Morning, Marinette!” And oh, how sweet the sound of her name being spoken by his full pink lips was! She felt like she could melt and combust all at once, her wall of magazine clippings meant nothing in the face of the real live thing.

Eyes wide, and face flushed a rosy pink, Marinette forced a smile in return and opened her mouth to try and return his greeting, but all that came out around her heart that had lodged itself quite squarely in her throat as butterflies did the tango in her stomach was an intelligible squeak. Absolutely mortified, Marinette clamped her jaw shut and adverted her eyes to her lap, vaguely aware in her periphery of vision that Nino was watching her in confusion and Chloé with a calculating glare.

Adrien shifted restlessly from foot to foot for a minute in which Marinette would neither look at him nor speak to him, before sliding into his seat. He felt oddly self-conscious and... ashamed? He couldn't tell. He had thought he had cleared up his misunderstanding with Marinette and that they could be friends now, but apparently he had it wrong somehow. Maybe she just didn't want to be friends with him, even if she knew he hadn't put the gum on her chair last week. Somehow that idea hurt.

Alya then burst into the room so fast that she came skidding to a halt before the boys' desk with her ombre curls flying, a smile splitting her face. Hazel eyes alight with an inner fire made her grin look half-crazed, if not down right manic. “I did it!” she announced, sounding so proud and excited, arms and legs both spread wide so she kind of resembled a starfish. 

“U-um...” Marinette managed to squeak, still getting over the fact that _Adrien Agreste_ said good morning to her. “Con--” she cleared her throat and tried again at closer to her normal pitch. “Congratulations? ...Did what?”

With long, bold strides Alya crossed the distance to Marinette up the central isle and shoved her phone under the blunette's nose. “This! I entered!” Marinette took the cell and held it back a bit so she could read the webpage while Alya crossed over behind her to her own seat.

“ _KIDZ+ News Anchor Competition_ ” was written across the top of the page in bold white letters, standing out against the garish orange backdrop. Marinette thought she remembered hearing about this, something about news relevant to teens being hosted by teens. It sounded more like a talk show or celebrity gossip to her than actual news anchoring, but if Alya was happy...

“My audition is scheduled for this Wednesday, the theme for the first round is 'business professional', whatever that means...” Alya informed, trying to act calm and collected, but still practically buzzing in her seat.

“That's great, Alya!” Marinette insisted. “I'll definitely be rooting for you! Hey, if you want, I can help you put your wardrobe together? Do you have any pantsuits?”

Alya's face fell, “No, Manman only has her work clothes and casual wear, and a chef's work clothes aren't really anchor-material. And even if Nora had anything, she's a lot bigger than me...”

Marinette frowned for a moment, thinking. “Hey, can you stand up for a moment?” Confused, Alya did as asked, Marinette also standing, measuring roughly how tall Alya was in comparison before she began patting Alya down, smoothing out the fabric across her shoulders, testing the thickness of her waist, feeling how it swayed out to her hips. “Hmm... it might work...”

“Um, girl?” Alya asked, not sure what was going on.

As if realizing how intrusive she was being, Marinette jumped back with a squeak, sinking back to her chair. “Sorry! I'm so sorry! That was weird of me, I was being weird, sorry.” Alya sank down as well, still watching her Asian friend. “It's just-just my Maman is friends with Nadja Chamack, you know, the TVi lady? I babysit for her some times! Anyway! You're about the same size, so I thought maybe I could ask her if she had any old suits she doesn't use anymore? I could probably take them in a little if I needed...”

Suddenly Alya flung herself at Marinette with such force it knocked them both off the bench and out into the isle. “Oh my god, girl! You are amazing! I love you!” Alya declared, still on top of the smaller girl.

“Um... okay?” Marinette said just as Mlle Bustier entered the room. The young teacher smiled down at the girls as Alya finally started to get up. 

“Well, it seems you two don't need today's first lesson,” Mlle Bustier said. “But as for the rest of you, find your seats, we've got a busy day ahead of us!” The class returned to their designated spots and attendance was taken before the teacher continued. “Now, as I'm sure you're all quite aware by now, Paris is under attack by a supervillain who targets people's negative emotions. As such, the school board has decided that teachers should assist students in promoting a positive learning environment. In order to do so, from now on we'll be starting each class by randomly assigning partners and naming one thing about that person you admire. For this I have assigned each seat a number, and this app I have will randomly pair the numbers up to find your partner. So, let us start! First up, Ivan and Max!”

“I, er, think you're really smart?” Ivan said.

“Thank you,” Max responded, adjusting his glasses. “Though it's not to my genre, I find your talent in music impressive.”

“Wonderfully done!” Mlle Bustier encouraged. “Next, Alya and Adrien.”

Adrien looked up at the dark skinned girl and smiled, “Though I don't really know you yet, you seem to be a very brave person who is passionate about everything you do.”

“Awa, thanks Sunshine,” Alya cooed.

“Sunshine...?” Adrien blinked.

“Yeah, golden locks and a ray of innocence and light, you're our class's Sunshine Boy!” Alya declared, causing Adrien to blush bashfully.

“That was very nice of both of you. Next up is Marinette and Alix!”

Marinette turned to the shorter girl, “I really respect your strait forward personality.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Alix responded, not really looking very thrilled. “I... guess your art's pretty good?”

And so the class continued until every student had complimented someone, even Chloé begrudgingly told Kim he was strong in response to him telling her her hair was curly. It was then that the first real assignment of the day was given out. An essay about their futures, namely what they want to do with their lives once they grow up and what steps they need to take moving forward to achieve their goals. They were given the rest of the hour to start penning out the basic draft, for some of which was more just brainstorming ideas on what it was they wanted to do.

There was some quiet chatter around the room as students discussed potential options with their seatmates, but for both Marinette and Alya their pens were already flying across the page, scribbling out their rough drafts. For Marinette, who had a knack for planning things, she already had both her lycée and université picked out and already had her portfolio underway of a few commissions she had completed already. They were all just small things, made mostly for family or friends, but it was a start and she could update it with better pieces as time went on. All she had to do was pray her disastrous luck didn't get in her way. 

Alya, on the other hand, had her head full of the KIDZ+ competition and wrote nearly a page already by the end of class about how she would win and all the doors it would open to her future as a journalist. She hadn't even touched on the Ladyblog and how her footage had been on international news and seen by the likes of Majestia herself. In short, Alya was confident she had her future made.

Meanwhile, in the row in front of the girls, Adrien's hand moved through the point-form list of everything his future would entail with all the passion of a wet noodle. Unlike his classmates, he wasn't stating dreams, he was stating facts. These were the things he would do, because his father had told him this is what his future would consist of. He would model until he was 20, then he would go to université for a business degree. Upon graduation, he would get a job with Gabriel and quickly work his way up the chain of command until he became CEO of the company, which he would remain as such until his retirement. 

He even put down his future dating life, because of course that had been planned for him as well. The summer before his 17th birthday, he would begin dating his first girlfriend. They would date for six months and then break up. He would then remain single until he was 19 and a half, at which point he would begin dating his second girlfriend. They would date for a full two years before breaking up. Six months later, at 22, he would begin dating his third girlfriend. They would date for a year and a half before becoming engaged. The engagement would last another year before they would be married. Then, some time during the year following that they would have their first child to continue on the family legacy.

None of it meant anything to Adrien, just words on a paper that would one day come true because Gabriel Agreste had dictated it so. None of it made any room for Adrien, let alone Chat Noir or his Lady. All of it would go according to schedule, according to plan, because that was what would make the Gabriel brand look the best. Giving a quiet sigh, Adrien let his eyes wander off the page telling his future and managed to take in his seatmate, who sat with his forehead pressed to the table in front of him and not working at all.

Adrien blinked at this, as usually Nino would at least put on the appearance of working to avoid getting in trouble. “Hey, uh, man? (Was he using that right? He thinks he's using it right. He hopes he's using it right. It would be embarrassing if he wasn't.) What's up?” Adrien pressed.

Nino rolled his head a little to look at Adrien out of the corner of his eye. “Don't know what to write,” Nino explained.

“What, not anything? Not even a vague idea or an interest or like... something you wanted to be when you were little?” Adrien pressed.

“No...” Nino said in defeat. “Well...” he added, looking like he was thinking of something for a moment, before his eyes dulled again. “No... it's stupid.”

“What?” Adrien pressed, leaning in conspiratorially. “I won't laugh, promise.”

Nino looked at him a long moment more, gauging the blond's honesty as well as his own resolve. Finally he gave a deep sigh and admitted, “DJ... I kind of... always wanted to be a DJ? I like music and...” he trailed off, embarrassed.

Adrien blinked twice, then furrowed his brow. “Why is that stupid?” he asked, honestly not understanding.

Nino lifted his head off the table and looked at his friend, jaw slightly slack. “Well, there's no future in it!” Nino tried to explain.

“Why not? Aren't there professional DJs?” Adrien asked, still not getting it.

“Well... yeah, but...” Nino admitted, averting his eyes. “Very few actually make it, most only do it as a side-job.”

Adrien shrugged, “So, start off by only doing it as a side-job.” He furrowed his brow again, as a new thought popped into his head. “Side-job to what?”

Nino wilted again, “I don't know...”

“Well, is there anything else you're interested in other than music?” Adrien asked.

“Well...” Nino looked over at him, he hadn't laughed about the DJ thing, so maybe it would be okay to talk about this as well? “I kinda always really liked movies...”

“What, like an actor, or...” Adrien began, but Nino shook his head.

“More-more the making of the movies side of things...” he admitted shyly.

“Oh, so like a writer? Or cinematographer? Or director? Or producer?” Adrien supplied.

Nino shrugged, “I guess... director comes closest, I think?”

“Oh, yeah, that's cool. So why can't you put that down?” Adrien asked.

“I don't know anything about it, I wouldn't even know where to begin...” Nino complained, body slumping in defeat.

“Oh,” was all Adrien could think of to say. “Well, my Mère's side of the family are in the film industry, I could ask them for the contact information of a director you could interview in order to find out,” Adrien offered, firing of a quick email to his grandfather. “It wouldn't be any of the big name directors, of course, they're all too busy, but...”

Nino gaped at the young celebrity beside him who so casually talked about such things without any idea that that wasn't how the real world worked. Successful people like directors didn't just talk to strange collège kids about their futures like that! “I don't... think that's such a good idea...”

“Really?” Adrien's face fell, upset he couldn't help his new friend. His phone binged that he got a new message and he glanced at it before announcing, “Are you sure? Because I just got a response back, they're wanting your contact info to arrange a video conference after school... You don't mind talking to a girl, do you? Jill Soloway has a free spot in her schedule then, or there's Michael Mann or Carlos Reygadas if you'd prefer...”

Nino was dumbstruck. Was this what life was like for the rich and famous? Just call up directors for a chat whenever you felt like it? He knew Chloé said that she lived in a different world from all the minuscule peasants, but he had never really believed her before. He had always assumed she was just exaggerating to be mean to everyone or something. But this really did seem like some act conducted by someone who lived in a different reality from Nino's own. “Yes-I mean-I don't mind-that is, I'll talk to Jill Soloway if she's free...”

Adrien grinned, “Great!” He started tapping a response into his phone, but paused after a few seconds. “Um, I don't know your contact information off the top of my head yet,” he admitted, a little bashfully, as he handed the phone over. 

Nino took a quick glance at the contact information out of curiosity and read the email address LloydGraham@grahamfilms.biz and blinked. He was just going to casually give his _personal contact information_ to none other than the _founder_ of Graham Films. Because of course. Why _wouldn't_ his celebrity friend just be able to fire off an email to such a man? Scanning the rest of the message, his eyes landed on the word 'grand-père' and sighed. 'Family in the industry' indeed. Only the grandson of Europe's most prominent film company. No big deal at all. He put in his contact information and handed the phone back to his seatmate, who smiled back at him with all the innocent radiance of a thousand suns.

He couldn't even be upset or jealous. It wasn't like Adrien was bragging or trying to rub his nose in it or anything, he was actually being quite humble and downplaying his connections and was just trying to help his friend. It wasn't any of that, it was more the casualness of it all that got under Nino's skin. The fact he didn't even realize how amazing his life was and had been talking all last week about how cool it was to finally get to go to collège. If this boy wanted, he could rule this school, and with Chloé's aid the whole of Paris. And he used all that power to help useless, deadbeat, nobody _Nino_ of all people? To work on an essay paper about chasing a dream that would never in a million years succeed...

If people knew how trusting and naive his friend was, how connected and eager to please he was, they'd eat him alive. The selfish, power-hungry people would suck the marrow from his kind bones, use him up until he was nothing left but a husk, and he was so desperate to have friends he wouldn't even lift a finger to prevent them. The new girl in class, Alya, had called him a Sunshine Boy, and as Nino watched him sway and bob slightly as he finished his email with a bright smile on his face, Nino had to admit she had a point. Someone needed to protect him, and with the way Chloé pranced him around like a trophy on her arm every day, that person didn't seem to be her. So that meant it fell to Nino to do the job.

“You wanna eat lunch together today, dude?” Nino asked as the bell signalling the end of class rang.

Adrien's face lit up like it was Nino that was using world-famous contacts to drop Adrien's dreams into his lap instead of the other way around. “Really? You mean, like, in the cafeteria?”

“Sure, dude, if that's what you want,” Nino shrugged. This Sunshine Boy was going to be the death of him...

~*~

Élodie Martin was having a bad day. A bad week. A bad month. A bad year. And a bad life. Single mother of a seven-year-old son, her boyfriend had walked out on her when she was four months pregnant because he “didn't like all the restrictions she was imposing on him all of a sudden” to ensure their baby could grow up healthy and happy. Things like not smoking in the house, not drinking themselves silly every night, eating healthy balanced diets... So he left, and left her on her own to either raise the baby she was pregnant with, or abort. She couldn't bring herself to abort.

So here she was, seven years later, trying to make it on her salary alone and give him the life he deserved. Working long hours as a server at the Eiffel Tower bar, dealing with a constant flood of self-important tourists coming in and out, whining and complaining loudly about the long waits and crowded rooms. About how all of Paris is so unbelievably rude for not dropping everything they are doing and catering to their specific desires and needs so they can have the absolute perfect vacation that they so obviously deserve more than every other one of the millions of tourists shoving their way through the streets of her home every day of every month of every year.

And then she'd go home, and listen to her son, Alexandre, complain about how he was bored. Try and help him with his homework as he whined he didn't want to do it. Feel guilty about letting him sit and stare at the TV while she tried to get the house cleaned and make dinner. Sit through the tantrum that was him insisting he didn't want to eat what she could afford to feed him. Bathe him and read him a story before putting him to bed. Staying up late to finish cleaning and make sure there would be a breakfast and lunch the following day. Then get up the next morning to do it all again.

Yes, Élodie Martin was having a bad life.

~*~

When they entered the cafeteria, Adrien quickly noticed Marinette sitting in one corner with many spaces empty around her save for her friend Alya sitting next to her. Adrien all but dragged Nino over to sit with her, which didn't really surprise the Moroccan boy. Nino strongly suspected Adrien had a strange crush on their Asian classmate, given how desperate he was to get in specifically _her_ good graces over and above every other person in class. And Nino was pretty sure by how she went red and became a stuttering mess every time he tried to talk to her, that the feelings were probably mutual. Nino just wasn't sure if Adrien would end up dating her or discovering she was a total disaster like the rest of the school knew first.

Still, when Adrien practically begged permission to sit next to the suddenly shy Marinette, Nino begrudgingly sank into the seat on Adrien's other side, trying to keep as much distance between himself and little miss trouble magnet as possible. Marinette clammed up again as the model sat down next to her, causing said boy to return to his kicked puppy look. Alya looked between the two of them measuringly and then thought back to Adrien's attempt the week before to strike up a conversation with Marinette and decided to take pity on the Sunshine Boy.

“You knew Majestia's favourite quote _was_ Majestia's favourite quote, so I'm guessing you're a fan of hers?” Alya questioned.

Adrien's eyes lit up at the mention of superheroes, and he responded, “Yes, though she's not my favourite, she's still really cool!”

“Oh? Who's your favourite then?” Alya asked.

“Honestly? There's so many that I like for so many different reasons. The Huntsman and Knightowl are cool cause they're both just, like, normal people who fight crime to the point they're counted among the best heroes. And Victory's like, a third generation hero, not to mention they made her President of the United States! Stargirl's really cool, too, I mean she can't be more than eighteen and is such a powerhouse. Do you think the rumours that she's Ultraman's great-granddaughter are true?”

“I mean, it's possible?” Alya allowed. “They do look sort of similar, though their costumes are completely different. They have sort of the same power set, but I'm more of the school that thinks Majestia is his and Miss Mighty's granddaughter. It was known that they had some serious chemistry.”

“They could be sisters, or cousins, or even mother and daughter,” Adrien suggested. “If the Majestia and Doorman rumours were actually on to something...”

“Oh my god, that would be amazing! If Mighty Lad was Miss Mighty's son rather than just her protege, because it's almost confirmed that he and that alien girl, Airia, are Majestia's parents, that would make Stargirl a fourth-generation superheroine! And of course there are those photos on line of her and Sparrow being rather friendly~!” Alya practically sang that last sentence.

Adrien laughed a little at this, “Already planning the fifth generation, I see. Though Stargirl does spend a lot of time around both Taser Fist and Huntsman's sidekick, Surefire, as well. They're just the young heroes, you can't call them out yet for just not wanting to hang out with the adult superheroes. Especially if we're right and they're their kids. I mean, if you had a choice between hanging out with people your own age, or hanging out with your parents and their work friends, who would you go hang with?”

“You think when Ladybug and Chat Noir join the League of Heroes they'd get close to them, too?” Alya asked, eyes sparkling at the prospect. 

Adrien got a daydreaming look in his eye. “That would be awesome...”

“And-oh my gosh, if they really did meet and got close, wouldn't Ladybug and Surefire look sooooo good together?!” Alya squealed, pulling out her phone to pull up a photo of the young marksman, so she didn't notice the flash of dread on Adrien's face at the mention, nor how it melted to an almost angry, closed off look.

He folded his hands in front of the lower half of his face to hide the lack of smile, but that couldn't cover the steely edge to his green eyes. “No, I don't think they'd suit each other,” he insisted, voice carefully unafflicted with emotion. Still, the sudden change caught the aspiring reporter's attention, but before she could say anything a group of girls stepped up to the table.

“Oh, Adrien!” Aurore called, placing a hand on Adrien's arm as he turned to look up at her. He gave her a model's smile that didn't reach his eyes right then and subtly shifted his posture around a little more so he was both being more attentive to the new girl and also moving his arm out of her easy touching range in the same motion. “You didn't have to sit _here_ ,” she insisted, giving Marinette the side-eye, “we would have made room for you.” 

Marinette sank. Though Aurore was in a different class this year, Marinette knew she was almost as bad as Chloé. They had been friends, after all, until Aurore had decided she was just as good and re-branded herself as the rival of the school queen. Now they were almost always at each other's throats and had to compete over everything. Though she wasn't completely sure if this was more competing over bullying her or competing over Adrien himself. Though, she supposed, it didn't really matter as the end result would be the same.

She had messed up her chance at sitting next to the cutest boy in the whole school—wait, no, forget the school, in all of Paris!—because she was embarrassed and nervous and terrified she'd do something wrong and make him hate her forever and ever! And then he started talking superheroes that she knew nothing but the bare basics about and so couldn't join in the conversation that was going on. And then Alya started trying to hook her superhero self up with some other guy. And now he was going to leave and go sit with the more popular girls and leave her behind!

“But, I wanted to sit here,” Adrien informed honestly. “I'm sitting with my friends!” he announced that with far too much pride, as though achieving such a thing had been some great task to accomplish. “But, you're welcome to join us if you wish,” he offered, gesturing to the opposite side of the table.

Dominique Vallet, a dark skinned girl with long, black curly hair who was dressed in a pink shirt, was the first to take up the offer, sitting across from the blond boy. This prompted the other girls to scurry and ensure they could sit as close to Adrien as possible without encroaching more than they had to into Marinette's immediate disaster zone. 

“So, what were you guys talking about so passionately before we came to join you?” Mireille Caquet asked once she was seated to Dominique's right. 

“Superheroes,” Adrien replied, his eyes lingering on Mireille a moment longer than strictly necessary.

“Oh, that's right, you're that girl that got the video of that monster fight,” Paige Segal, a girl who's dirty blond hair was cropped at ear length, acknowledged Alya. 

“Yep! I'm going to be a journalist one day, I've even entered that KIDZ+ anchor competition!” Alya proudly stated, confidence practically oozing off of her.

“Oh, you too?” Mireille and Aurore both said in unison, before realizing what the other said and eyeing each other up.

“Really? Well, good luck on your auditions, I'll be sure to watch the broadcast and root for all of you!” Adrien expressed, passing his model smile over Aurore, lingering a moment again on Mireille, before turning to Alya. However, all on their own his eyes dropped a little further and settled on the small, quiet girl sitting beside him. 

He had purposefully called them friends aloud in front of her, and she hadn't objected. Did that mean she was okay with it after all? Even though she wouldn't look at him or talk to him? Adrien could feel the little bubble of excitement swell inside of him at the thought of her accepting him close. She noticed him looking at her when she looked up to reach for her thermos of tea and turned to look up at him as she reached instead of keeping her eyes on her drink and misjudged the distance, the back of her knuckles knocking over the container and spilling tea onto the table.

“Whoa!” Adrien jumped up and snatched at the thermos the same time as Marinette and Alya made the same motion, the girls across the table all springing back and squealing. Nino also pushed himself to his feet and stepped back to watch the chaos unfold, but he was quieter and just focused on getting himself and his things out of the danger zone. 

When her hand came in contact with the Agreste boy's, Marinette jumped like she had been struck and quickly yanked her hands back in to herself. “Sorry, sorry, sorry...” she started her mantra up again, looking down at her feet and praying she didn't do anything to embarrass herself further.

“It's fine,” Adrien insisted kindly, putting aside her thermos and taking the napkins Nino had grabbed from the stack the lunch lady kept behind the table Marinette always sat at just for such accidents. Adrien sopped up the mess while Alya cleared everything out of the way for him and Nino carried over a bin. Once they were finished, he turned to the girl who was still standing frozen in spot and begging for forgiveness. Adrien reached for the girl's small shaking shoulder on instinct, but aborted the motion just before coming in contact with her. He was a gentleman, he couldn't just go touching strange girls without their permission, that was rude. What had he been thinking?

“It's _fine_ , Marinette,” Alya insisted, her voice holding only the slightest tinge of exasperation in the situation. Marinette's heart sank. It had already started.

“Alya's right,” Adrien assured. “See, no harm done.” Adrien's voice was soft and soothing, his whole posture exuding patience and gentleness. His eyes were warm and kind and he was beautiful. How could there be such a perfect person in existence? That even as she made an absolute fool of herself, and he was still so sweet and understanding, he couldn't be human, right? That was the only explanation, he was some other-worldly being like an angel or a god sent down upon this planet to be the perfect embodiment of all things wonderful.

It took her a moment to realize he was waiting for her to say something, do something, anything... “Yank thou... I mean-tank who-I mean-you thank-I-I mean-I...” Marinette felt her face turn cherry red, and tears of embarrassment stung the corners of her eyes. 

His face fell into a befuddled expression before he gave a nervous-sounding little laugh and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Erm, your welcome?” he guessed.

~*~

Monday after school, Marinette had called Mme Chamack and somehow convinced her to donate an old suit she no longer wore because it was slightly out of style. Tuesday at lunch, Alya went over to Marinette's house to have the suit re-fitted to the thirteen-year-old's proportions. They spent all lunch hour making sure all the pins were in place so Marinette could sew the outfit that night, and accessorizing it so it would look modern and stylish even though it was almost ten years old now. 

They ended up bringing a bag of baked goods back to class with them to share between them as they had taken so long they hadn't had time to get anything to eat. Adrien practically drooled at the smell of the pastries, and Alya had laughed at him about the way to a man's heart being his stomach. Marinette had blushingly offered to share with Adrien and Nino anyway. (“She's so sweet,” Adrien said to Nino as he nibbled at his croissant, trying to make it last as long as possible.) 

The next morning, Marinette was running late to class, slipping in almost a minute after the bell had signalled the start of the lesson. She apologized for being so late with a bag tucked in her arms, before she went and sat down. During the first break between classes, Marinette pulled out the suit from the bag she had brought and pushed it into Alya's hands, insisting that she use the ten minutes to try it on. They went to the washrooms, and Alya noticed Marinette had spruced up the jacket a bit more with a new coloured lining and some trim. (“To help it match your complexion better,” the young designer had insisted.)

The end outfit was crisp, the points it had been brought in at hardly stood out at all. Though it didn't really look tailor made, it at least looked like something Alya had gone out and specifically bought for herself at a more up-scale boutique. Knowing everything fit and looked good together definitely was a load off of both girl's shoulders, and just left the excitement and nerves build for the rest of the day.

That afternoon, when Alya's dad showed up with his car to take her to her audition, Alya insisted Marinette come along with her and her three sisters for moral support. When they arrived among the hundreds of other contestants, Alya was given instructions on what was expected of her. To wait in the lobby, wearing her number, until her number was called. She would be brought in before the panel of judges, who would have a teleprompter with them. She was to sit in the seat behind the desk they had set up for the contestants, and read what the teleprompter told her to say over her five minute time slot. She would then be judged, and if she got at least two out of the three judges to upvote her, she would be allowed to go on to the next round of the competition.

Waiting in the lobby with all the other contestants was a little intimidating, watching them trickle in and out of the designated room. Some of them came out crying, others came out looking angry, while others still looked thrilled. Alya was half expecting an akuma to show up with how high everyone's nerves were getting. At one point a camera crew came by and gave her a preaudition interview. And then it was her turn. 

As she looked to her family and friend she had to smile, poor Marinette looked a little green around the edges from all the nerves but was still doing her best to try and look supportive. The twins were cheering, not the least bit suspecting of an ability that she could do anything but win. Nora looked like she did before a match, and Alya was pretty sure if she walked out of that room in tears like some of the other contestants did, she'd turn it in to one of her matches. Her father just smiled at her proudly. “Go get 'em, Tigerlily. Break a leg.”

“Thanks, Papa!” Alya forced a grin through her nerves and entered the room with her head held high and a bounce in her step. She stepped up to the desk that was placed before three judges, their eyes already on her so she made sure to sit promptly and straiten her shoulders out to her best posture. She briefly took in the blank paper props on the desk before folding her hands and smiling at the judges. One of them scribbled a note on their page.

“And you are?” a different judge asked.

“I'm Alya Césaire, I'm thirteen years old and a student from Collège Françoise Dupont!” she introduced.

The judges nodded and the one in the middle asked, “So, why is it that you entered this competition?”

Alya's answer was immediate, “I want to be an investigative journalist! I love getting to the bottom of things and sharing the truth with others! Finding the inside scoop, you know?”

The judges nodded at that, but the one on the right gave Alya a speculative look. “I feel I've seen you somewhere before...”

“I'm the Ladyblogger,” Alya suggested. “My coverage of the first Stoneheart fight was recently featured on several news pages.”

A flicker of recognition filled the judges expressions, “Well then, shall we begin?” the judge on the left said.

The next few minutes were filled with scrolling text about some recent event. Alya stayed mainly on script, though she did put a bit of her own phrasing and flare to some of the lines. When the reel came to an end, the judges had slight smiles on their lips.

“Arlette, would you like to begin?” the judge on the left said.

“Sure,” the judge on the right said, before turning her attention fully onto Alya. “First, I'd like to say your coverage of that first akuma attack was quite impressive for an amateur's footage, especially as you are only thirteen. As for today's performance, I have to say that suit looks absolutely wonderful on you, and you entered with such a professional air. In this line of work, appearance is almost half the job, if you don't look the part of someone professional, the audience will never take you seriously.”

“Yes, ma'am, thank you,” Alya was sure to say as she nodded and took what the judge had to say to heart.

“Alec?” the judge on the left prompted, apparently the one in control of this judging session.

“Alya, I just got to say, I agree completely with Arlette. When you came in here, bounce in your step, full of confidence despite the camera, you really drew me in! And when you read your lines, not a stutter or stall in the lot, you were on point every step of the way, even when you had no idea what the script was going to tell you to say ahead of time. That is a very important skill for anyone in the entertainment industry to have, especially those like reporters or announcers who often have to say their pieces with little to no prep-time to go over the material and memorize anything. So, good job.”

Alya nodded again, her heart swelling with excitement. Two positive reviews meant she was likely going to pass the round. She struggled hard to keep her face appropriately serious for the last judge as he began to talk. “I have to say I agree with my fellow judges. Your personality really stands out with your boldness and your Martiniquan Creole accent gives you a uniqueness in comparison to the Parisian born and raised contestants that really helps you to stand out and get noticed. Being memorable is important in this line of work as it ensures you become iconic to the network and helps build viewer recognition. As such, I would like to start the vote by giving you your first yes, Alec?”

“It's a definite yes from me,” the middle judge stated. “Arlette?”

“Congratulations, Alya, you have three yeses and are going on to the next round of the competition,” the last judge said, a smile on her face.

“Thank you all so much,” Alya enthused, struggling hard not to jump with joy as she walked briskly from the room. She barely exited the door to face the anxious expressions of her family and best friend before she couldn't hold it in any longer. “I got _three yeses_!” she declaired, breaking into a run so she could throw her arms around her older sister and Marinette.

“Oh sweet! Whooo!” Nora cried, lifting both the young girls in her arms at once and swinging them around in a circle to celebrate. The twins jumped at her sides, cheering and going crazy as Nora let her down on her feet again. Marinette's legs gave out and while Nora helped her to her feet and made sure she was steady, Alya was folded into her father's proud hug.

Tears of joy and relief pooled in the corners of Alya's eyes as she snuggled close to the man, “I did it, Papa,” she told him quietly. Then she pulled away and went back to hugging Marinette, both girls began jumping up and down together, squealing and clinging to the other, too much jubilation between them to be able to calm down for a good ten minutes.

When she finally did, though she still had an arm slung over the shorter teen's shoulder, the officials approached her once more to explain the next step. She grinned up at the adults, smile splitting her face in elation, and Marinette didn't look much different. They smiled back kindly, understanding how big this was for Alya, and explained that the next event tomorrow would be a black tie formal wear event, simulating reporting at a major celebrity get-together. 

At the short deadline, Marinette frowned and looked to Alya in concern. “Do you have something that will work for that?”

“I have a dress I wore to a school dance at the end of last year, it should work I think,” Alya admitted. “Could you come and give it your expert opinion? Help me figure out my hair and stuff so I make sure I will look the part?”

“Oh, I uh...” Marinette hesitated. 

“Please? We'll feed you dinner! Manman gets off work soon and she said she was going to have a huge feast for us tonight and it would really make me feel better! The judges complimented your choice of suit for me, so I know if you help me they'll love it! Please?” Alya begged.

When faced with such pleading, all Marinette could do was say, “I-I'll have to call my parents and make sure they're okay with it...” and Alya grinned.

~*~

The sun had set hours ago. The light from the computer monitor illuminated Adrien's face as he tapped listlessly at the keys. He let out a deep sigh, and Plagg rolled hir eyes. That was the seventh sigh like that this last hour, if hir holder was just tired he could have come to bed hours ago, but he continued to sit there and stare at the screen, sighing heavily in that annoying way that Plagg couldn't seem to just sleep through. Giving up on trying to sleep, Plagg flew over to Adrien's head and demanded, “What is it now? Your incessant sighing is so over dramatic it's annoying. If this is about Ladybug again, I swear...”

Adrien heaved another sigh in response. “It's not about her, Plagg. Or, well, not completely at least?”

“Then what is it?” ze pestered.

“It's Père,” was all the blond said at first.

“Your old man? You haven't seen him in person since before you became Chat Noir, and you haven't heard anything from him since he said you could go to school. What's he done that could get so under your skin now of all times?” Plagg asked.

The reminder that he was being neglected again by his father pulled a look of pained discontent across Adrien's face, but he pushed it aside with a reminder that his father was very busy as the owner and head designer of the fashion company. Adrien just had to be understanding and patient with the man, not be selfish and demand his attention all the time. “I was working on my essay for class, you remember the one we were given Monday morning? It's due the same block next Monday so I was typing it up. It's just...” another sigh, “I don't really want to write it.”

“If you're having trouble, just take a break,” Plagg told him.

Adrien shook his head. “It's not that I don't know what to write, in fact I probably know better than anyone what I'm supposed to put down on the paper. My whole future was planned out for me by the time I was a year old, after all. As the son of the Gabriel Agreste, my image and actions reflect on the company image after all, so it's only natural to make sure that what I do reflects well on the company.”

“So what's the problem? If you know what to write, then write it. Easy assignment, you don't even have to think about what to write down,” ze brushed off carelessly.

“But, that's the thing...” he responded, slowly coming close to tears without fully understanding why. “I don't want to do what Père said for my future anymore. I-I never really wanted to do it, but now I know I can't go through with it! Plagg, he's even planned my dating life! He'll pick out for me girls that are good for the brand, who would look good with me, who would get people gossiping in the magazines and online, not who I'm actually interested in! He has it all worked out, even how long I'll date each one before I get married! Nothing in there about if I don't get along with them or if I fall in love and am not ready to move on! And I don't want to date some random girl that would be good for the brand! I love Ladybug!

“I could never do something like that to her! Cheating on her with other girls just because Père expects it! God, just the idea of it makes me feel dirty. The only girl I want to date is Ladybug. You said it yourself that she was the one who would complete me, she's my soulmate and I would never want to be with anyone but her! I want us to grow up together, supporting each other, and then-and then we can get married one day and go live somewhere warm and tropical where we can drink juice from freshly picked fruit. We could have whatever type of family she wants, and live happily every day outside in the sun...

“And I... I could be an astrophysicist. I could go to lycée with my friends and then go to a université that I picked out for myself. I'd get my degree and go work at an observatory somewhere like that big one in Hawaii. I could spend the rest of my life studying the universe and uncovering its secrets, going back to a warm home where Milady is waiting, you and her kwami and our kids or pets or whatever... I could teach them how to call the fairies...” he trailed off, eyes lost in a future of 'what ifs'.

Plagg scratched at hir ear, not really caring about hir holder's fantasies, “So, what's the problem? If that's what you want to do instead, just write that!”

Adrien's face fell. “But... what if it's not a very good plan? I-I don't make plans, what if I'm no good at it and the paper gets a bad grade and Mlle Bustier calls my Père about it?”

Plagg rolled hir eyes. “Kid, you're in a class full of thirteen-year-olds. Do you really think any of them have a realistic understanding of what their future as an adult will actually look like? The fact you named a career and thought far enough ahead to realize you're going to need to attend université for it will probably warrant you an A.”

“Even so, if I write it, and any of my fans get a hold of it and they put the information on the net... Even if I don't mention Milady at all, if anything I said contradicted my Père's plan and got onto social media, it would make its way back to Nathalie, which means it would find its way to Père! I would be in so much trouble for saying things like that which are bad for the brand! I have to write what my Père expects of me, I don't have a choice!” Adrien argued, face pinched in frustrated distress.

“Then write it!” Plagg cried in exasperation.

“But... but it hurts...” Adrien finally admitted, tears starting to roll down his cheeks in earnest. “I hate modelling, I hate this stupid company. I don't want any part of any of it. I was never once asked for any input on anything about what I wanted, I've only just been told to do what Père wanted. Going to collège is the first thing in my life that I actually got to have any real say in, and it's wonderful, but... but why do I still want more? Am I just being greedy, risking the company image so I can get my way? But I can't stop feeling with every keystroke that I type that I'm betraying Milady! Doing what Père says would mean turning my back on her and dating other girls—marrying another girl—and I just... I don't think I can...

“Not to mention all the things I said to Nino about following his dreams without letting anyone hold him back. I feel like such a hypocrite not doing the same and typing this garbage up just because it's what is expected of me. Surely he'd call me a liar and hate me if he found out I was spineless and just wrote what I was told to write instead of what I actually wanted in life! What if he lost the courage to pursue his dreams because he found out I wasn't pursuing mine? What if he decided he didn't want to be my friend anymore?”

And this time, it was Plagg's turn to sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there you have it, the origin of the puns, and Nino deciding that he's all in for Adrien, which is important to establish as why he got so upset on his behalf in the episode Bubbler when his character is otherwise shown to be laid-back and someone who goes with the flow. As for Alya entering the competition, if they were having a city-wide competition for a news anchor position, it didn't make sense for her--given her dream of being a journalist--to not try out for it. It'll play a bigger part in the next chapter when the akuma attack happens, but even this part is something I consider important character development and growth, especially how it establishes the closeness of the relationship between Marinette and Alya to go both ways. Last two chapters it was mainly Marinette almost fangirling over Alya, so this chapter it's Alya that relies on Marinette for support.
> 
> All the superhero stuff is again mostly made up. There's a few facts that I pulled from the wiki, but most of it was made as parallels to some of the more iconic teams in superhero history (mainly DC because Marvel doesn't deal as much with the child hero trope). Also kind of pulling in the idea of superheroes having existed for decades and so it would be believable that there would be generations who grew up in the business. Victory, for instance, is the grand-daughter of the Captain America character of their universe. Ultraman is their Superman, Miss Mighty is their Wonder Woman, Mighty Lad is their gender-swapped Wonder Girl. Stargirl is the chick in orange on the wiki page about non-Miraculous superheroes of the world, and she's sort of an older Superboy only girl form. The Huntsman is Green Arrow/Hawk-Eye, with a side kick based off of Speedy. It is hard to name-drop heroes in a world that has them as staples of their media but in a way that readers won't be lost and something can actually be really hard.
> 
> I also took the scene from the Dark Cupid episode where all the girls are standing around Adrien's poster and Chloe comes up to them with his signed poster and starts bragging, and named them all. They're not really important, they're just background fangirls, but it just seemed to flow better having them making a fuss over him with names rather than always referring to them as "the first girl" "the third girl" "another girl", etc. Their last names were mainly chosen because no one else in Marinette's grade has a surname starting with a letter after like "P" or something. I'd look it up, but I'm currently typing this during a power-outage so there's no wifi available at the moment.
> 
> As for the whole "Adrien's love life has been scheduled for him like everything else" idea, that came from another story I read a few months ago, don't remember the name or who wrote it, but it just stuck out at me as such a dickish thing that of course the likes of control-freak Gabriel Agreste would do. Especially how I'm choosing to write him in this story where he doesn't so much see Adrien as a person with his own wants and dreams as he does an object to further his company's benefits and therefore his own power. Yeah, by removing the Emilie-in-a-coma angle, I've had to shift him from being a Dr. Freeze kind of villain to simply being crazed and power-hungry and wanting the ultimate power for his own selfish gains, which then leads to other nasty-bad sides of his personality being exaggerated a little. Basically, he's the Gabriel Agreste from Chat Blanc, or the Collector, rather than the softer side he shows in other episodes. In fact, that softer side is merely manipulation in this story.
> 
> So next chapter, we finish up explaining why Alya didn't make it to the finals of the KIDZ+ competition. Fight the OC akuma that was lightly touched upon in this chapter (and judge my ability to choreograph fight-scenes and create akuma). Have a scene of Chloe and Adrien being close friends in private where neither have to put on a performance for image's sake. And find out what Adrien actually is going to do about the essay.


	4. OC Akuma: Alimenter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of the bridging chapter, we have the akuma fight and Alya's second round of the competition. Some character defining moments on our girl's part. Adrien also has a heart-to-heart with Chloe, highlighting how their friendship works. Some Adrienette and Ladynoir development in there as well.
> 
> \----
> 
> Ladybug dove behind a beam of the tower, hiding in the safety of it as the pink energy flickered around the edges. This situation wasn't good, Ladybug tried to think her way through it to find a solution. She was on her own and pinned down, she didn't know how to get a hold of Chat Noir as he had been at the fight first the last two times she'd fought Stoneheart. He was probably on his way, he was a real, reliable hero, unlike her who was a clumsy coward, so he'd surely come running as soon as he heard.
> 
> But how long would that take? And what could he do about the akuma and her blaster? She was so different from Stoneheart, who didn't have anything on and was just carrying the akumatized item in his hand. This time she was covered with things, how was Ladybug to figure out what the akuma was hiding in? She didn't recognize this woman, so she didn't even know what wasn't transformed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are with the second part of the chapter. Honestly, coming up with the akuma was the hardest part. I'm still not completely happy with her, I tried making a consistent thread with her but there was so much I wanted to say that I kind of skimped out on designing her properly. Her name "Alimenter" means to feed, to nourish, to serve, to supply, etc. I figured seeing as she was a waitress in that restaurant in the Eiffel Tower shown in the Chameleon episode it might work, and the gun... I honestly don't know. I wanted a long-range fast fighter to compare to Stoneheart's slow and in close style to give them a real challenge and somehow it turned into this.
> 
> **Warning! A racial slur is used in this chapter by a character written specifically to be an entitled racist bigot. If you find such things to be unsavoury, skip the scene where it talks about Élodie's bad Thursday. Just hit Ctrl+F and search for Papillon to skip to the next scene.**
> 
> Well, I don't really have much else to say on the matter of this chapter before we get started, so enjoy your read.

Marinette entered the room just as the second bell was ringing, carefully balancing a large, wide box in her hands. She looked to Mlle Bustier who watched her expectantly. “U-um!” she called, drawing the attention of the room to her. “I-I brought cupcakes! Papa made them this morning, they're... they're from the new batch he made in honour of Paris's new heroes... um, I thought it would be appropriate for celebrating Alya's successful audition yesterday because she likes superheroes so much? Um, there's enough here for two each, the Chat Noir themed ones are chocolate with mint icing and the Ladybug themed ones are vanilla with strawberry icing...”

She trailed off nervously, not used to making public speeches, and just resorting to opening the large box and beginning to hand out the cupcakes to the first row. When she went to pass, Adrien grinned up at her and said, “Thanks, Marinette! These look delicious!” 

At once, Marinette felt her chest constrict in panic. Adrien smiled at her! He said her name while smiling at her! While trying to wrap her head around this fact, unable to draw her eyes away from his radiant smile, she missed her step, toes catching on the edge of the stair and sending her tripping forward. Because his eyes were on her, he saw her starting to fall and Adrien pushed himself from his chair and into her path of trajectory. Her face hit warm cotton, nose filling with the scent of boy mixed with the strawberry, mint, chocolate, and vanilla of her cupcakes. She felt arms encircle her for a moment, hands landing between her shoulder blades and at the small of her back, before the jolting impact of their sudden stop as he landed on his backside on the steps, her half in his lap and the box of cupcakes squished between them. 

She was too mortified for a moment to even contemplate moving, but when he shifted his hands, she peeled herself away from his chest, keeping her eyes trained downwards to try and hide the crimson flush of her face. Her top was smeared with streaks of pink and pale green, dotted with spots of dark brown. In short it was ruined, she'd never manage to get it properly cleaned again. The class erupted into complaints about her clumsiness and how now they wouldn't be able to have cupcakes because of her, but she hardly heard. All of her attention was on the smears across Adrien's chest. She had ruined his shirt. She had gotten icing all over his custom tailored Gabriel original shirt.

Tears of guilt swam in her eyes, and Adrien panicked, grabbing at her shoulders and asking with concern, “Are you alright?”

“I ruined your shirt...” she admitted hollowly. He looked down, only now realizing that he had icing and bits of cupcake on him. “I ruined your shirt and now Alya can't have cupcakes and it's all my fault and...” she trailed off, voice growing consistently higher as her words gave way to full on sobs.

Not sure how to make things better, but desperate to try for his sweet new friend, Adrien reached up to his desk and grabbed the cupcakes that he hadn't yet touched by their wrappers and carefully transferred them over to Marinette and Alya's desk instead. “It's fine, see? Alya can have mine, then she can enjoy the cupcakes regardless!”

This, however, did not have the desired effect as Marinette just felt more guilty and cried harder for a minute. “I'm sorry Marinette,” Mlle Bustier interjected, “but I'm afraid there isn't time for us to wait while you go home and change. You'll just have to put up with your clothes being dirty for now and wait until lunch for a chance to clean yourself up. We have a busy day ahead of us and I need to start class. If you and Adrien would return to your seats...?”

Finally, Marinette managed to get a hold of herself as Alya carefully helped her back to her seat, mindful to avoid getting icing on herself. Adrien sank into his own seat, not sure what he had done wrong. That was when a pink-topped cupcake got slid across the table in front of him. He followed the arm back to Nino, holding an already half-eaten chocolate and mint cupcake. “You can have that one, I'm not too fond of vanilla,” he said as way of explanation.

The room was quiet for a moment as Mlle Bustier took attendance, before he heard a high-pitched voice clearly meant to be a whisper but too worked up to manage to keep it quiet enough not to be overheard. “But he's the son of _the_ Gabriel Agreste!” Marinette seemed to be arguing back. There was a moments pause, he thought he heard Alya saying something too quiet to make out, then Marinette responded in the same tone, “But I got icing on his shirt! It'll stain and the shirt will be ruined! I ruined a Gabriel original shirt! Once that gets out, my career in the fashion industry will be _over_!”

_Oh. Oh, so that was it._ Maybe Marinette wasn't opposed to being his friend, she just was intimidated by his father? He didn't exactly blame her, even other big names in the industry were intimidated by Gabriel Agreste, so a mere thirteen-year-old fan who dreamed of one day entering the fashion world would certainly fear the man. Hell, even Adrien feared him from time to time and he was his own son. Surely if he was just patient with her, she would see he wasn't anything to be intimidated about.

~*~

Élodie Martin was having a bad day. 

Again.

Thursday was usually her last quiet day before the weekend rush, of all the young people who would come to Paris from out of town for just the weekend to take in the sights or go on a date. Many of them were day trips, catching the train and leaving after a mere twenty-four hours. Many of them would be back sometime in the future, on some other trip, but they weren't the troublesome sort, just passing through and making things busy. She really didn't mind them, for the most part, on those days she wasn't already stretched so thin. 

And of course, working in the Eiffel Tower meant 'quiet' was always relative. The only time she thought in her life that she had actually seen the Eiffel Tower quiet was during that akuma attack nearly two weeks ago now. The idea of monsters that attacked you when you're angry was a terrifying thought. But she had seen the hero Chat Noir with her own eyes when coming back to work, and he had seemed so competent.

But apparently the tourists hadn't been so concerned about being attacked by emotionally charged parasitic butterflies that were drawn to negative emotions as the locals were. Élodie wiped the table down after a family of five had finally left. The mother and father had spent all meal on their phones, snapping selfies or looking up plans for the rest of their day. The three banshee children had wailed and screeched the whole meal long, disturbing everyone else trying to dine, throwing fits that they didn't like the food, and generally making a huge mess. Never once did either parent attempt to reprimand the children, and they hadn't even left a tip when they finally left.

And that was when _he_ entered. A large man of around six feet, heavy set build, and a face already scrunched in a look of indignation. He stomped over to Élodie all in a huff and started in on her at once, yelling in English: “Do you have _any idea_ how long me and my wife had to wait to get up this damned tower?!”

“I'm sorry, sir, but that really is not anything I have any control over. The Eiffel Tower is a popular tourist attraction, thousands of people come here every week,” Élodie attempted to explain. 

“If you people weren't so damn _lazy,_ we could have been in and out of this place ages ago!” the man continued to yell.

“Sir, I'm just a server in the restaurant here, I have absolutely no control over the number of visitors that come to the tower, nor how long they choose to stay!” Élodie defended herself.

“You're just making _excuses_! If you ran this place _proper_ then there wouldn't _be_ any problems! We could have been on to the Louvre _hours_ ago! But now, because of _you_ being _so lazy_ and _inconsiderate_ of the people who come to your city and spend _good money_ to keep you lot in business, my wife and I won't get to take in all the sights we wanted to see!”

That was it, Élodie had had enough of this nonsense. “Now you see here--!” she started, but was cut off.

“How _rude_! You damned _frogs_ , you need to learn _proper_ customer service! Because of your behaviour, I _demand_ our meals free! If it weren't for _you,_ our vacation wouldn't be _ruined_! You _owe_ us compensation!”

And Élodie saw red.

~*~

In Papillon's dark lair, the ornate window slowly pulled open, setting a flurry of white wings into the air at the sudden light that was afforded to them. Within the centre of them stood Le Papillon himself, his dark purple suit hugging his tall form, silver mask glinting in the sun.

“Ah, sadness, anger, righteous indignation...” Le Papillon cooed, almost sounding sympathetic. “The cocktail is finally complete. That feeling of frustration as they take and take from you, never repaying your hard work with the respect you deserve. Selfish hearts filled only with petty greed, that don't care about this beautiful city of love beyond what it can grant them.” He summoned a small white butterfly to his hands, cupping it until it turned black. “You're fed up with the way they treat you, you're ready to show them what the receiving end is like. Go, my little akuma, and darken their heart!”

~*~

Alya sat in the lobby with Marinette and her three sisters. Her parents couldn't get away from work today to be there with her, so Nora was taking over as her main support. Ella and Etta had managed to find a little sister of another contestant and had been making friends, playing with her dolls and colouring in their books. It kept them quiet and entertained, and so no one in either family minded.

Marinette was fussing with Alya's hair and makeup, trying to ensure she matched perfectly the mid-thigh length black dress Alya was wearing. As far as little black dresses went, Alya thought she looked pretty good, given her thirteen years of development. She knew she was a curvy girl for her age, and the cut of her dress accentuated that fact without being slutty or especially revealing. Add to it the jewellery and shawl that Marinette for some reason had, and she thought the whole thing came together well enough for her to be on the red carpet, not just reporting on those that were.

But all thoughts of that came to an end when the televisions on mute around the room began showing a scene unfolding at the Eiffel Tower. A woman dressed in a frilly French Maid inspired outfit who was shooting people with a scifi-looking gun that was attached to some sort of pack on her back by tubes. If that alone didn't tip people off that this was another akuma attack, her bleach blond curls with fuchsia skin certainly did.

With a grin on her face, Alya quickly dug into her clutch purse and pulled out her cellphone, before jumping to her feet and running as fast as her heels would let her for the door. “Alya!” Nora cried, but couldn't chase her because she had the twins.

“I'll be back soon! My audition isn't for another good forty minutes, and the Eiffel Tower is like, ten minutes tops from here on a bike! There's a Vélib station practically right outside the door! I'll be fine!” Alya called over her shoulder, hardly slowing down to let the end of her sentences reach her sister over the growing distance between them. But she would be fine. Ladybug and Chat Noir would be there to help keep her safe, and she'd already promised Marinette she wouldn't get so close to the fights anymore. Once the Heroes of Paris arrive on the scene, the fights don't last that long, so she'd be able to nip out, get her footage, and get back in time for her audition, no problem!

“Um, I-I...” Marinette squeaked, drawing Nora's worried attention away from the door her middle sister vanished through. “I should probably go home, before that akuma-monster-thing comes this way...”

Nora nodded in understanding, seeing clearly by the slight tremors in Marinette's hands and her shifty eyes how scared she really was, despite her trying to hide it. “Alright, just make sure you're careful on your way home.”

“I will,” Marinette assured with a nod, before making her way for the door and out onto the street. Alya was already gone, but Marinette wasn't looking for her per say this time. She instead made her way as inconspicuously as possible into an alleyway and ducked down between two large garbage bins. Opening her purse, Marinette looked down into the large deep blue eyes of her kwami. “Tikki, there's trouble! Transform moi!”

A flash of pink light later and Ladybug's yo-yo shot out from between the trash bins and away she went, soaring from rooftop to rooftop. One swing through an intersection dropped her lower, getting civilian attention as she swooped past, overtaking Alya on her Vélib bike, and sighing internally as she noticed the girl trying to film her while she pedalled.

Ladybug hit the pavement surrounding the Eiffel Tower first this time, Chat Noir still nowhere in sight, so it was up to Ladybug alone to run interference and keep the akuma distracted while the civilians cleared out. As soon as she landed, a purple outline of a butterfly glowed over the akuma's face and she turned to Ladybug with steely determination. “Give me your Miraculous, Ladybug!”

“Never!” she shot back. 

“You _dare_ to backtalk me?! I, Alimenter, will ensure that no one who steps foot in Paris will ever be disrespectful again!” The akuma levelled her blaster at Ladybug, who squawked and shot her yo-yo out, barely pulling herself to safety as the bright pink plasma blast struck the ground where she had been a moment before. Ladybug swung wide, the blasts following her sweeping arch, a few stray shots hitting some civilians who had decided to try and make a break for it when the superhero showed up.

Looking back in horror, Ladybug saw the unfortunate casualties of her swing suddenly be replaced with sweets and junk food. Not even clothes remained behind, it was like the whole of the person was poofed out of existence. It was a little disturbing, and strange that something took their place. Did the gun teleport those hit with it to swap them with things like slices of cake on fancy little plates or cheeseburgers steaming on wrappers, or little bonbons all wrapped up in colourful papers. Somehow, that didn't seem quite right.

Still, when the blaster was pointed at her again, Ladybug dove behind a beam of the tower, hiding in the safety of it as the pink energy flickered around the edges. This situation wasn't good, Ladybug tried to think her way through it to find a solution. She was on her own and pinned down, she didn't know how to get a hold of Chat Noir as he had been at the fight first the last two times she'd fought Stoneheart. He was probably on his way, he was a real, reliable hero, unlike her who was a clumsy coward, so he'd surely come running as soon as he heard.

But how long would that take? And what could he do about the akuma and her blaster? She was so different from Stoneheart, who didn't have anything on and was just carrying the akumatized item in his hand. This time she was covered with things, how was Ladybug to figure out what the akuma was hiding in? She didn't recognize this woman, so she didn't even know what wasn't transformed. 

Should she try her Lucky Charm? Tikki had said it would give her a guaranteed win, but also that it started her five minute counter, and if she couldn't get out from around the beam to execute a plan of attack, she'd detransform out here in the open where the civilians hiding behind other structures could clearly see her. But if she just sat here and did nothing, the akuma would eventually win and all those innocent people would suffer. 

She took her yo-yo out and spun it a few times, tossing it up so it wrapped around a horizontal beam high above her head. Once it was attached, she began slowly scaling the tower, making sure to keep the metal beam between her and Alimenter. She noticed the angle of the blast shifting slightly, but not the height the blast was being fired at, so Ladybug assumed the akuma was probably just shifting around the beam to try and get a clearer shot on her, not realizing she was making her escape.

Climbing on to the crossbeam, Ladybug looked down at Alimenter and tried to piece together what the akuma could be hiding in. She wore one of those weird frilly hair pieces that looked a little like a hat tied on with a ribbon, a black lace-trimmed choker, a garter belt at the top of her fishnet stockings, a frilly apron, wrist cuffs, a feather duster hanging from her hip, and that gun with attached backpack. Well, regardless what the akumatized item was, the gun had to be dealt with.

Alimenter stalked around the pillar only to find Ladybug missing. She looked baffled for a moment before letting out a screech of rage. Turning her gun on some of the cowering civilians, she got off a shot before Ladybug's yo-yo managed to zip down and wrap around her blaster. Ladybug stepped backwards off the beam she was on, dropping down and using it as a fulcrum so she could swing feet first into Alimenter while the blaster was yanked up and out of the akuma's hands.

While this attack hit initially, and the akuma stumbled back, the gun was still attached to the akuma by some tubes and so did not pull fully out of the akuma's possession. Reaching up, Alimenter grabbed the tubes, twisted so they wrapped around her arm, then yanked downwards. The force of the pull dragged Ladybug up into the air by a few feet, leaving her momentarily dangling helpless. 

Panicking, she let go of the string of her yo-yo, hitting the ground in a crouch just as a blast of pink light shot over her head at where she had been suspended a minute before. She wasted no time dashing to the side and diving behind the nearest cover, the light flashing in her wake twice more as she bolted. Alimenter gave another infuriated screech, turning her gun once more to those civilians that had failed to scatter when Ladybug began her assault, zapping them away and leaving cakes and pies and the like in their place. 

Alimenter stalked forward, stepping through the assorted goodies, and seemingly absorbing them into herself as she went. Ladybug, who had peeked around the pillar she hid behind when the flashes were no longer firing in her direction, noticed a kind of gauge on the back of the backpack that filled up a little more with each treat she absorbed. Ladybug gasped quietly in horror, not really understanding the reasoning, but sensing that such a thing was likely not a good sign.

She tried to walk further, but the yo-yo string had managed to get itself tangled again, catching on itself and holding her blaster in place. She tugged at it, but the yo-yo did not come loose from the beam above, and so the akuma paused to fight the coiling string from around the blaster completely. However, moments after she had freed herself from the tangled mess that held her trapped, the weighted end of the yo-yo pulled the whole thing to the ground, string sliding loose from the beam and falling freely and untangled to the ground. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the yo-yo began to wind itself back up until the string hanging from it was only a few inches long.

Frustrated with the infuriating contraption, Alimenter kicked the yo-yo away, it skipping a few times before sliding to a halt only about ten meters away from the street. Ladybug looked at her weapon, she knew she needed it for transport and to cast her Lucky Charm, both things she couldn't afford not to have. However, a plain dash for it out in the open like that would be suicide, so Ladybug planned a route hopscotching between trees and advert signs and anything else that she thought could act as cover against the blasts.

She ended up on a winding route, but one that was relatively safe and drew Alimenter into an area that had more immediately surrounding her to act as shields against her attacks. Ladybug was preparing herself for the last dash out in the open across the distance to her yo-yo when a loud metal clang filled the air. A moment later, Chat Noir came flipping in over the top of the advertisement beside her. He landed, flashing her a grin, and tossed her yo-yo across to her, “Sorry I'm late, traffic was a nightmare.”

“It's fine, I was late both of the last two fights as well,” Ladybug forgave, a wave of relief filling her when her partner had shot her that crooked grin. She didn't understand it completely, but just the sight of him filled her with the feeling of being safe and supported. It made her chest feel warm and tingly, remembering for a moment the pep-talk he gave her the week before, and she felt an odd desire to prove she could live up to his expectations. “Thanks for getting my yo-yo back.”

He shrugged casually, “The akuma was distracted firing at where you were hiding and I figured it was probably what you were making your way towards. Better I could nab it while her back was turned than you put yourself in danger, Milady.”

Ladybug sighed at the nickname, she really honestly didn't like people calling her by anything other than her given name, but he seemed to be the pet name sort. At least he wasn't calling her anything degrading. She put on her best professional front and quickly got down to business. “The akuma calls herself 'Alimenter'; the blasts from that gun of hers will replace you with a goody.”

Chat pulled a face she didn't quite catch, before forcing on a grin and saying, “Well, that certainly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'you are what you eat'...”

With shockingly horrible clarity, Ladybug finally realized the people weren't being teleported away and swapped, they were being transformed! “ _Chat!_ ” she cried, scolding and horrified at once, he flinched and looked properly ashamed of himself, eyes dropping downcast and away from her, only flicking back for the briefest of moments when she started to talk again. “Those are _people_ , Chat! _People_ being _turned into food_ , and then like... like some kind of retro arcade side-scroller beat 'em up, she walks over the food and absorbs it, filling her gauge on the back of her pack. Oh god, she's eating people! I think I'm going to be sick...”

“H-hey, it's okay, we'll fix this!” Chat Noir insisted, shifting to his knees and holding his hands out like he wanted to reach for her shoulders again, but couldn't reach because of the distance between where they sat. Still sour at him for his poor taste in a joke—really, poking fun at people being turned into food and eaten!—Ladybug levelled him with a mutinous stare. He retreated back on himself, hands pulled in to his chest and dropped his eyes in shame once more.

“We don't know that! She's turning people into _food_ and-and _absorbing_ them! What if there's no way back from that? What if whatever that gauge is measuring uses them all up and there's nothing left _to_ restore?”

“Your Miracle Cure restored all the damage from the last akuma battle, it even brought back the people that had been crushed by that high-rise falling as good as new...” Chat Noir attempted to reassure.

“But they weren't turned into something else! I don't know the limitations of the Cure, I don't want to put more faith in it than has been proven!” Ladybug insisted, scared about what the future of this fight might entail. Chat Noir was right, last time her Miracle Cure had restored everything and everyone, at least physically. But Ivan had still had to face people being angry about it, and their class was still rushing a little to try and make up the missed lesson time, and there had been talk on the internet by people about how they remembered dying slowly, crushed under a mountain of stone while they waited for help that never came. Meanwhile, everyone not affected seemed to put so much faith in a power none of them had any actual understanding about. It made her feel the weight of everything sitting on her shoulders, as if any lasting damage suffered was now her fault.

And Chat Noir was cracking poorly tasted jokes and hand-waving away her worries and the situation as nothing serious. 

Chat Noir fidgeted. He had tried to lighten the mood so she wouldn't feel so scared, but he had somehow screwed that up pretty badly if the glares she was shooting him were any indication. He didn't want her to be displeased with him, he wanted her to fall in love with him. He was already so completely taken with her. His attempts to reassure her, as had worked last time, only seemed to upset her more now. He didn't know why, but he had to do something to turn the tide of her mood, he just wished he wasn't so socially awkward and could read situations better so he knew what he was doing so wrong.

Wracking his brain a moment on what he could do to fix things, he referenced the only girl he actually knew. When Chloé was upset, if he started complimenting her she'd be happy. Ladybug didn't want this akuma turning people into food and absorbing them, he could work with that... Chat Noir pushed himself to his feet, took out his staff, and struck a stylish pose to just be that much more impressive. “Don't worry, Beautiful,” he threw in a wink, just because he could. “I'll stop the akuma making fast food out of these people!”

Without waiting, Chat Noir jumped out and drew the akuma's attention to him again, and away from the tourists hiding around that she had been hunting while the heroes had their little conversation. Eyes landing on him, Alimenter demanded, “Give me your Miraculous, Chat Noir!”

How did one quip? It seemed, from the research he had done, to consist of one-liners and playful banter, so all he could do is try his hand at that. Ladybug needed to know everything was okay, he'd help her realize that even if it killed him. “If you give me yours first, I'll give you mine.”

Alimenter looked like she was contemplating this for a moment, before she recognized the trap for what it was. Then she levelled her blaster at him when she apparently came to her conclusion. “Ah, ah, ah,” Chat scolded, doing his best to keep his voice light and playful so his Lady wouldn't worry. “Don't you think you've had enough junk food for today? If you keep this up, you'll wreak havoc on your figure!” 

Alimenter released a blast at him, but Chat Noir managed to side step it. Though he hadn't gone out in costume since the last fight, he had been practising in his own right. Paper targets hanging from strings around his room that he could lunge and slash at with his baton. Testing his strength and jump distance, testing his agility and flexibility. He was a champion-level fencer, so he knew well the importance of training and perfecting his skills in order to win a fight. His Miraculous was just yet another weapon for him to learn to wield and so he knew already how far he had to bend or twist to avoid an incoming blow. 

He danced around Alimenter, throwing in cartwheels or flips because he could and he hoped his Lady would be impressed by his skill. Still, he was having troubles encroaching on her, he needed a certain amount of time to duck and weave away from her blasts, and that meant he had to be far enough back that he could have his proper reaction-time to her shots. She backed up into more of the transformed civilians, and Chat tried to press in closer, extend his staff a bit to force her on the defensive, something, but it seemed he was the one being pushed back slowly, with every close strike driving him back step-by-step. 

Finally, Chat Noir decided to just give up and duck behind the shelter of the sign with Ladybug. “Is it just me, or is the gap between our coordination growing faster than it ought, given my endurance?” Chat asked.

“It's not you, she's getting progressively faster! She keeps on going after the transformed people and that gauge goes up, I think it might be measuring her top speed or something!” Ladybug explained.

Chat bit back a curse, that wasn't good. He was having enough trouble as it was getting to her, if she continued to speed up he didn't know how he could fight her, let alone keep his Lady safe. “Do you know where the akuma's hiding?”

“No, she has so many accessories on her. I was thinking perhaps maybe the gun? Or-or the choker cause it's dark and the stone that had the akuma last time was dark...” 

“If we're comparing colour, shouldn't it be her feather duster? The stone had a kind of purplish colour to it, right? The feathers on the duster are that same sort of shade...”

“You remember that?” Ladybug asked in surprise.

“It got caught on that Alya-girl's video,” Chat explained.

“You... watched the video of our fight enough to pick that out?” Ladybug was a little surprised at that, wondering what he would find so important about that fight to keep going back to it.

Realizing this was his chance, Chat Noir put on his best charming smile and leaned in a little. “Of course I did, I missed you. It was the only way I could see you. Though, if you gave me your number, I wouldn't have to just sit and watch some videos...” Ladybug looked at him with cheeks flushed and eyes wide, he took one of the hands she held loosely clenched in front of her chest by where her heart was and brought it to his lips. He looked up at her with the best smouldering eyes he could muster as his kiss lingered against the rough texture of her suit.

She yanked her hand back with a startled squawk, face inflamed with embarrassment. “Wo-would you quit messing around?! This is serious!” she yelled at him. Really, people were dying and he was trying to get her phone number! Chat Noir forced a little laugh to cover the jab to his heart at Ladybug's rejection, to try and play it off like it didn't mean anything and that it was just another joke. She rolled her eyes at him and got back on topic. “We need to lure her away to an area that doesn't have as many pedestrians to attack!”

“Sooo... head down the Seine until we hit Auteuil?” Chat asked. 

Ladybug frowned, it was a ways away before they would reach somewhere without an overflow of people, but the 16th arrondissement was one of the quieter places in Paris that was least likely to have tourists around. And Alimenter had insisted that she wanted to get rid of all the rude tourists... Perhaps if there weren't the tourists around, she'd be less inclined to go targeting civilians? Hesitantly, Ladybug nodded. “Alright, let's see if we can't relocate her to Auteuil...”

“You head for there first, I'll keep her distracted and catch up to you when it's safe!” Chat Noir tried to insist.

“No way! I'm not just going to go running off on my own! What if you get hit or something and I'm way over waiting for you but you'll never show up?” Ladybug argued.

“But you above everybody can't be hit! You're the only one able to purify the akuma, so that means you're the most important person around!” Chat Noir countered.

“I...” she frowned, not liking what he said but understanding the logic behind it. She huffed out a frustrated sigh. “Alright. I won't go all the way, but I'll let you cover me for about a block. But if I don't see evidence of you following, I _will_ turn around and come back to check on what's taking so long, so you better not try and trick me into running away or anything!”

“Deal,” Chat accepted, not what he wanted but he recognized she wouldn't put herself as any more important than that. “You better start getting ready to run, I'll cover for you in three... two...”

Ladybug slipped around so they were back to back, tossing her yo-yo out to the far side of the Seine where the Trocadero stood. She felt more than heard him declare it was time to go, with him pealing away from her in order to jump back out into the fray. Trusting her partner, because that's all she could do, Ladybug took off running with bounding leaps, letting the recoil of her yo-yo pull her forward faster and farther with every step than she could have achieved on her own. 

As she passed the line of cars that had been abandoned at the edge of the street, she smiled when she saw Alya crouching behind the front of a car, holding her phone barely above the top and of the hood and letting the camera with zoom function be her eyes to keep her safe. She twisted to follow Ladybug as she zipped past, and so the superheroine called back over her shoulder to her best friend “Run!” in warning. 

Alya swivelled back, bringing the phone around to focus back on Chat Noir's fight, but quickly realized what Ladybug had meant when she saw the remaining hero clearly leading the akuma in her direction. Alya shifted to her feet, still crouching low to avoid being spotted, and inched her way back towards the main cab. When Chat came close, she abandoned her hiding spot and moved her way around the back of the car, using her phone's camera to watch for when it was safe to slip undetected to the other side of the car. Once there, she resumed filming over the trunk of the car until it seemed safe to come out.

She checked the time on her phone, she had been recording for the last twenty minutes, her auditioning site was in almost the opposite direction of where the heroes were headed, and for a moment Alya hesitated. Part of her said she should head back and make sure she was cleaned up and ready for her audition. But this was important. And Ladybug and Chat Noir clearly had some sort of plan to save Paris, so it shouldn't take too much longer, right? Surely she could finish filming them, let all of Paris know it was safe to come out again, and get back to the audition in time.

The world needed this information to help support Ladybug in taking down Papillon. This was the job of an investigative journalist, after all. The judges of the competition would commend her on a job well done, praise her for her dedication to the field work! And she was keeping her promise to Marinette, as well, by keeping her distance and making sure she didn't draw attention to herself. Everyone would be so proud of her!

With her mind made up, Alya got back on her bike that she had discarded up against the car she had been using for cover. She pedalled after the heroes and the akuma, mindfully staying on the far side of the Seine because of how dangerous that blaster was. The superheroes had taken to the roofs, the akuma following them up as they wove between chimneys to keep safe. Alya noticed Ladybug was leading the way several houses ahead, but being careful not to pull too far away from where Chat was drawing the akuma along.

At some point in time, Chat Noir had discovered that the akuma, Alimenter, was extremely insistent on respect, and so had started being very loudly rude to her to taunt her into keeping her focus on him and not pay attention to any civilians in the street below or Ladybug up ahead. Every so often, even from this distance, Alya could make out a snide jab or infuriated rebuttal between the two.

Finally Ladybug veered them off from following along the Seine and out towards the heart of the 16th arrondissement. Alya had to pull a u-turn to get to the closest bridge so she could continue to follow them, but by the time she caught up it seemed they had decided to make their stand. 

The streets here were already deserted. News stations had been watching Alya's stream to identify where the akuma was located and where the heroes were headed, and had warned the people of the area. Most had retreated in doors to hide within the safety of their own homes, but some had evacuated the area completely. Either way, there was no one about for Alimenter to attack besides the Heroes of Paris, and so she wasn't getting any faster than she currently was. 

She lunged in a little too close to Chat Noir, who had been taunting her relentlessly since he discovered he could. From that distance, he wouldn't be able to dodge, so Ladybug shot her yo-yo out and knocked the gun aside just enough that the shot missed. He jumped behind another chimney for safety and Ladybug wound her way over to him. “So, what now, Milady?” he questioned, slightly out of breath. He was having to push himself to his limits to keep just out of reach, so he really hoped their strategist had a plan.

“Um...” was all she said before Alimenter burst around the corner. Chat Noir used his own body as a shield as he wrapped his arms around Ladybug's waist and dove for the next hiding spot. They didn't stop there, and continued on a few roofs over until he suddenly pulled her down into an alleyway while their view of the akuma had been blocked. He held Ladybug close to his chest for a moment while he caught his breath, eyes glued to the edge of the roof above.

They watched, cuddled against the cold stone wall in apprehension until the akuma leapt overhead, clearly assuming they had continued on running along the roofs. A beat later, Ladybug squirmed to put some distance between the two of them. For a moment, Chat Noir flushed frozen as he realized what sort of position the two had been in, before catching himself and trying to put on a dashing grin. She didn't look impressed, and secretly his heart sank a little. “Right, time to regroup?”

“I... don't know what we should do, we can't seem to get close to her,” Ladybug fretted. “We still aren't positive what the akumatized item is, we're only guessing it's the feather duster because of the colour of it. If we sneaked up on her and I grabbed the blaster with my yo-yo, do you think you could get the feather duster?”

“Er...” Chat paused, him and feathers really didn't mix well, but was it okay to tell his Lady about his allergy? It wasn't exactly a common one, like hay fever. “I... _really_ would rather not? I mean, I could if it's needed, but... well...” he wracked his brain for another excuse. “It's hanging off that cord... that her apron's thread through? I mean, I'd really rather not be caught on camera undressing a strange woman, let alone one in a kinky fetishized maid uniform, if you know what I mean?” he finished, blushing at the reasoning for his excuse.

“Oh,” Ladybug acknowledged, also going red at the implications.

“I mean, if there's no other way the plan could work, I would in a heartbeat! Safety of Paris, and all that. It's just pictures can be taken out of context so easily, and with a bit of photoshopping... it could look really bad,” Chat admitted, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

“Right,” she squeaked in response. “Right, I'll... I'll try to be the one to get the feather duster. Right. Yeah. Of course. I-I didn't even think of that. Jeez... Um, okay. Well, do you think you'd be able to get close enough to grab her gun?”

Chat shook his head, “Not at the speed she's moving now unless we set some sort of ambush for her. I... might be able to Cata—er, that is, I might be able to use my power on it easier than keeping a hold of it, if that's okay with you? Or, I don't know if you've noticed, but she's been starting to slow down. Not enough to make a difference because I was also starting to tire out, but now that I've caught my breath, we could try and run her in circles for a bit until she runs her power down?”

Ladybug frowned at that. “But we don't know if people she used up can be returned by the Miracle Cure or not! We can't risk their lives any more than we absolutely have to in order to win! I think... I think it's probably best if I use my power now, if the people are being used up. Lucky Charm!” 

She threw her yo-yo into the air, letting off a wave of magical ladybugs that formed together into a large rectangular cassette player, not unlike the old boomboxes from the nineties. They both blinked at it in confusion once she caught it in her arms, as there are multiple inventions since then that would make the object both smaller and more useful. Chat Noir pressed the eject-button on the top and it popped open, letting him pull out the tape and look at it. It was fully wound back on the A side, ready to play, and had “Nightmare Mix” written on it. He put it carefully back inside and closed the holder.

“A distraction of some sort for our ambush, I guess?” Ladybug figured. 

“Well then, let's get this ambush set up!” Chat said, ready to get the show on the road.

It took them a minute to get into position on a roof that was large enough for a bit of a scuffle if it came down to it. They put the cassette player behind a low wall with Chat hiding on one side behind a chimney where he could step out as Alimenter passed and Ladybug on her hands and knees ready to press the play button before she would crawl away to safety as fast as she could. They had noticed that the boombox was turned as high on volume as it could go as they were setting up and so decided it would be best to leave it as such.

Making eye contact, both heroes nodded to each other to signal they were ready before Ladybug hit the play button and started to scurry away. The recording started with a sniffle, then it broke into a cry, which caught the akuma's attention. Curiously, cautiously, the akuma made her way over. Then the recording let out a wail “Maaaamaaaann!” it cried, the voice of a small child. 

At once, Alimenter's expression shifted from wary to worried as her guard dropped completely. “Alexandre?” she called, sounding slightly befuddled as she took a few steps forward.

The voice of the boy playing on the recording hiccuped, then wailed “Maamaaaaan!” again as a purple butterfly appeared over Alimenter's eyes.

She stood, looking torn for a moment, before arguing back, “What? No! I'm not going to shoot him!” She was silent a moment more, “No! He's my _son_! I'm not going to attack my little Alexandre!” The recording of what was apparently her child cried out for her again, and she moved forward once more calling in reply, “Maman is here, mon petit ange.”

As she stepped forward, however, suddenly purple lightning shot out from the feather duster on her hip and began electrifying Alimenter, who fell to the rooftop screaming in agony. Chat Noir and Ladybug looked on for only a moment with eyes widened in horrified shock before lunging forward towards the downed akuma. When a stray convulsing squeeze of the trigger resulted in Chat nearly getting blasted in the face, he opted to change focus.

“Cataclysm!” he yelled, brushing his claws against the gun. The destruction spread up the tubes to the pack on her back, that erupted in an explosion that knocked both Chat and the akuma away from where they had been. He groggily tried to get up, ears ringing and filled with the akuma still screaming as the electricity jolted through her. Ladybug made it to her first, ripping the feather duster away from her side, not even bothering to untie the apron first. The cord snapped before her apron did, but even that wasn't enough to stop the lightning storm from jumping the distance to her body. 

Desperate for results, Ladybug broke the feather duster over her knee and out flew a little black butterfly. “You've done enough harm, little akuma. I free you from evil!” she told it, letting her yo-yo fly. Once it was captured and purified, she let it fly free, “Bye-bye, little butterfly.”

Chat Noir, still a little shaky on his feet, went over to help the victim to a sitting position. Meanwhile, Ladybug went over and turned off the recording of the crying child. She held her Lucky Charm in both her hands and hesitated. Her partner came over to her, noticing her odd behaviour, and asked, “Hey, what's wrong?”

“What if it doesn't work?” she worried.

“What?” Chat asked, not following.

“You just Cataclysmed a pack full of hundreds—if not thousands—of transformed people being used as akuma batteries and it exploded. What if my Miracle Cure doesn't work?” Ladybug asked again, voice sharp and on edge. 

Guilt shot through Chat Noir like a bullet, leaving an aching hole where his heart should be. “...Then, the blame is all on me,” he finally decided. “I'll accept whatever punishment is decided upon.”

“You'll be a murderer,” Ladybug insisted. “Maybe you already are one...”

Chat Noir flinched, but stood his ground. “If... if that's what is decided.”

Her earrings beeped, signalling she only had two minutes left. Realizing that no one would come back if she just stood around and didn't at least try casting her cure, she threw the cassette player as high as she could and prayed, calling “Miraculous Ladybug!”

She turned, not watching the light show flashing out in waves above as she went to the victim instead. “Wh-what happened? You said... something about murder? What... what did I do?” the woman asked.

“Nothing, it wasn't your fault. You tried to stop it and were punished for it. It is all on Papillon and his akuma,” Ladybug insisted, but her quiet voice was more robotic than comforting as she helped the woman down to the street. 

Chat Noir slid down his pole next to them and held out his fist to Ladybug, “Bien joué?”

However, Ladybug just looked at the extended arm. “I can't tell from here if it worked. Until I know, this isn't a 'bien' anything.” With that said, she turned and swung away without looking back.

“Oh, okay. I'll... I'll see you next time then,” Chat Noir called lamely after her. He stood and watched the point she had disappeared over for a minute, as if he could will her to come back and see him again just by waiting there. But of course she didn't, and he had to be on his way soon. He turned to vault himself away, only to come face-to-lens with Alya's phone camera.

“Chat Noir, can I ask you a few questions?” Alya pressed.

“Er, maybe next time, I have to go before my power runs out,” he told her, showing her the ring on his finger that only had two pads left.

“Ooooh, does that mean a time-limit?” Alya asked, zooming the camera in to get a clearer shot of his Miraculous.

“Yes, now if you'll excuse me,” and with that he jumped away.

Alya then turned her attention to the only one left besides herself. “Excuse me, Madame? For the sake of clarification, to help narrow down the cause of akuma attacks and see if there is any sort of pattern, would you mind describing the circumstances that lead to your akumatization?”

“What...?” Élodie questioned.

“That is to say, would you classify your akumatization as being caused by romantic troubles?” Alya pushed.

“What? No!” Élodie objected. “No, that was years ago! That...” realizing she was probably giving too much information, she stopped talking about her failed romantic past. “I got mad at someone who insulted me at work.”

“So you would classify it as bullying?” Alya pushed again.

“I-I suppose?” Élodie responded.

“Right, thanks so much for your time, I—Oh my god, I'm running late! I'm not here anymore, bye-bye!” Alya suddenly said, turning and running to grab the bike she had been following the heroes on. The audition she had scheduled was supposed to start in less than ten minutes. Pedalling full speed, she'd be lucky if she could make it back to the audition site in twenty. And then, of course, she would show up all sweaty and winded and her makeup could probably do with some touching up and her hair was likely a tad messy from the wind.

She knew she probably wouldn't look good, not without taking extra time she didn't have to make herself look better, but she had to try. Luck wasn't on her side that day, as her path was blocked by police officers trying to help hundreds of confused and upset restored tourists. Most of them wanted answers, some of them wanted protection or compensation, some of them just wanted to get the hell out of Paris and not wait for due process and statements to be made. 

Alya could tell already that this would be a headache that would keep the authorities busy for a while, trying to get the full picture and ensure everyone was accounted for. That was why it would be up to the likes of her to assist Paris's heroes in gathering information on the whereabouts and motives of Le Papillon. And she would be sure to rise to the challenge, her city and the heroes who had saved her life more than once were depending on it.

In the end, the detour took Alya out of her way by a full seven minutes. She hardly even took the time to park her bike before racing in to the building at a full on run. “I'm here!” she announced to Nora and the twins breathlessly as they gathered round and hugged her.

“We were watching your stream on my phone. Good god, girl, when that monster came within feet of you...” Nora admitted, clinging to the girl. 

“That was sooo cool!” Etta exclaimed.

“The TV was saying where you all were, but we were knowing it first cause we were watching you directly instead! Almost everyone in the room was when me and Etta told them!” Ella announced.

“Y-yeah, I... did have a lot of views...” Alya agreed.

“...You missed your audition by a good while,” Nora informed her, gesturing to the doors over her shoulder.

“I know,” Alya said. “But everyone knows I was doing something important instead, so I should be able to squeeze myself in somewhere.”

Nora didn't look quite so sure as Alya confidently went to the doorman and declared herself returned and asked about fitting herself back into the schedule somewhere. However, the doorman just shook his head. “You were appointed a time slot and you failed to show up to your audition. That's your fault, not ours. Our judges have had a long and busy day, don't be selfish and accept the consequences for your actions.”

“But I'm the Ladyblogger! I was doing field reporting on the akuma fight just now!” Alya tried to argue.

“Yes, you chose to leave and go chase those superheroes instead of staying here and auditioning. It wasn't something unavoidable or an emergency, so exceptions can't be made.”

“'Wasn't unavoidable or an emergency'?! It was an _akuma fight_! How is _that_ not an unavoidable emergency?!” Alya blew up.

“All the other participants managed to avoid it,” the doorman pointed out.

Alya stared at the man in exasperation for a moment when the door behind him opened and one of the judges stepped out. For a moment, Alya grinned in triumph. “Mlle Césaire? We were informed you came back from one of the cameramen,” Arlette informed. “I'm taking time out of my dinner break to come talk to you, because you are young and really do have talent in the field and I felt you deserved a proper explanation.”

“So you can squeeze me in?” Alya asked with a grin.

“No,” Arlette told her, not even bothering to beat around the bush. Alya's expression fell. “We are busy people, Mlle Césaire, it wouldn't be fair to any of us if the company forced us into overtime just for your sake. And it wouldn't just be the judges, but the camera crew and the editors and the clean up crew and everyone else would all be pushed into overtime for one little girl. That's not fair to them.”

“But-but I was only gone because I was covering the akuma fight...” Alya tried, feeling her heart breaking.

“Yes, and what does that tell us as a company? You made an obligation to apply to work for us, but ran off to go chase monsters and superheroes at the first chance you got. This isn't just to get your name out there, Mlle Césaire, this is a multi-step job interview. Do you really think the company is impressed with the idea of hiring an employee who can't keep their commitments? Would this be what happens every time an akuma attacks? What if you were scheduled to be somewhere else covering a different story, would you just abandon it to go chase superheroes?” Arlette pressed.

Alya's heart fell as what Arlette was saying sunk in. She was being denied over commitment issues? They're saying she lacks dedication?

“You're still young, you have time to learn how to order your priorities and truly commit to a company and follow through with the jobs you were assigned. Don't look at this as a failure, but as a learning experience about where you need to work at to become a better and more complete adult. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my supper so I can finish eating before the next contestant is to be called in. I wish you luck in your future endeavours, Mlle Césaire, perhaps in a few years you can apply for a position again, once you've learned how to prioritize your responsibilities better.” With no other words, Arlette returned to the back room and Alya turned back to Nora in tears.

Nora took her over to where the seats were, and sat down with Alya curled up on her lap. Ella and Etta were on either side, leaning over their older sisters and trying their best to comfort Alya with promises of letting her have their toys or sharing their dessert. Though it wouldn't really help her situation, Alya was still touched by their concern and obvious love for her.

After a good fifteen minutes of crying out all of her frustrations and disappointments into Nora's shoulder, Alya finally felt up to shifting off of her sister's lap and into the seat that Ella had been kneeling on. Alya transferred the twin in teal to her lap instead. “It isn't that I lack determination or commitment...” Alya confessed quietly after a few moments. “It's just that... I guess the problem was that some part of me had already chosen where my commitments lay without me noticing. I put a higher priority on my job as the Ladyblogger than on this stupid KIDZ+ program thing.

“I made a promise to Marinette that I would use all my skills and resources to help Ladybug and Chat Noir in uncovering the identity of Le Papillon. And that's _important,_ so I guess I just assumed everyone would make way for such a job. I mean, they've got to be superheroes, they don't have time to do all the behind the scenes research and PR stuff. So... I wanted to take that on myself. I didn't think anyone would hold it against me, but...”

“Alya, you're only thirteen, I respect that you want to help any way you can, but shouldn't you trust adults to take care of this instead?” Nora pressed.

“But there were no adults! Not at the first fight, and not today! There was no one but me! I don't know if they just weren't brave enough, or if their professional camera crews were too big and bulky to hide from the akuma, or what. But there was literally _no one else around_ for most of that fight! I--” Alya paused, her mind going over what Arlette had said, what Marinette had said, what Nora had said, and most importantly, what she herself had said. “The only thing that lets evil prevail is the inaction of good men,” she quoted.

Suddenly, Alya wiped her eyes and got to her feet, a fire of determination burning within her. She pulled her phone out and looked at it. “All or nothing, there is no half-way,” she declared before turning the camera on once more. “Hey, Paris! This is the Ladyblogger here, and this is my declaration of determination and commitment! I promise you I will not stop, I will not rest, until the terrorist Le Papillon is unmasked and behind bars! I will ensure my blog is the _number one_ source for everything Ladybug and Chat Noir related! That includes any fan submissions of photos or videos, if you want to help show Papillon that we are not cowards that will tremble at his feet! This page will be a shrine to everything that our Heroes are, and a tool to uncover the root of the evil they face! Stay tuned for a report on everything we know about Le Papillon's modus operandi and how _you_ can help yourself and others to stay safe in these trying times ahead!”

~*~

Marinette put her phone away after reading the text from Alya about the results of her audition. She sighed and continued down the winding streets towards her home. She rarely came out this direction as there were hardly any shops in the 16th arrondissement and she certainly didn't rub elbows with enough high-society people to have friends living here she could visit.

“Adults really do have different problems than us kids, huh Tikki?” Marinette started.

“Yes, but that's only because they've already crossed the thresholds you are facing now. Well, average kids your age, at least,” Tikki amended. “You learn to cope with this level of problem, then have to face different problems as you get older. Or you learn to run from this level of problem and continually get piled on by more of it that you haven't learned to deal with and all the other problems you'd have to face anyway and you end up in over your head.”

“Wow, that's a chipper outlook,” Marinette deadpanned.

“It's the truth,” ze insisted. “Trust me, I'm a lot older than you, I've seen this all before. If you don't learn to face your problems and deal with them now, they'll only get worse later.”

“Speaking of problems...” Marinette muttered, thinking back to the fight earlier. “What was with Chat Noir today?”

“What do you mean?” Tikki asked, not sure of the details of the fight while hir power was activated.

“Ugh! He just couldn't take anything seriously! I mean, people were dying, and he was cracking jokes about it! I swear, it was like he was a different person from the previous fights!” Marinette complained.

“How so?” Tikki asked, trying not to let on that the statement worried hir. “Did he look different?”

“Well, no, at first I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at all. But then he started cracking jokes and it was like he couldn't keep his hands off me and he kissed my hand and tried to get me to give him my number and everything! And he kept on messing around, doing flips and things when he didn't need to, like he was trying to show off! The akuma fight was hard and scary enough without him wasting so much time!”

“So how's that different?” Tikki asked.

“Well, like before he was very focused on the fight, he was on the scene first and was doing his best to beat the akuma even without me. He was really supportive and understanding when I needed him, he was great, actually! But today, he brushed off my concerns and didn't even bother remembering them when he went and Cataclysmed the whole lot of where everyone was being stored... He didn't take anything I had to say into consideration and basically murdered who knows how many people without a second thought!”

Tikki frowned at that. “I'm not sure I'm following, can you explain step-by-step?”

“Well, the akuma was turning people into food and absorbing them and storing them in the pack on her back and using them like-like a battery to make herself more powerful. And I _told_ Chat Noir that, and _told_ him not to Cataclysm them, but he did _anyway_!” Marinette insisted.

“He targeted them directly?” Tikki verified worriedly.

“W-well, no, I mean he used his powers on the gun and it spread to the pack, but still!”

“And did you bother to ask if he intended for the pack to get caught up in the destruction?”

“No, but--”

“So you're going to hold it against him that he didn't have full control over a power he's only had the chance to use once before?” ze surmised.

The wording caused Marinette to flinch. She had made a mistake in the first fight that resulted in people getting hurt as well, and he had looked so guilty when she pointed out that he could have just murdered all those people. But unlike her he had been willing to recognize her mistake as being such and forgive her, and had been willing to own up to his own mistake even in the face of the blame she was laying on him unfairly. Her, who should have been his most understanding source of support.

“But there was still all the flirting and inappropriate joking around and the _showing off_ that he was doing!” Marinette countered, still not quite ready to let go of her negative feelings just yet.

“But didn't you tell me before that you thought he might have been flirting with you right after you very first met?” Tikki pressed.

“That...” Marinette flushed, remembering the confident boy that had called her 'Miss Maladroit' the week before. “I'm sure that was different, I was just imagining things at the time! It wasn't like he was kissing my hand or trying to get my number or anything!”

“So you don't like that he was so forward about his flirting?” Tikki pressed.

“He didn't mean any of it,” Marinette insisted.

“How do you know?” ze countered.

“Because we don't _know_ each other! He couldn't _possibly_ be _actually_ into me, we've only met the two times before! Claiming he missed me and was watching the video of our fight just to see me... it would be creepy if it wasn't a joke!” Marinette insisted.

“And yet you say you fell in love with that Adrien boy the second day you met him after your first civil conversation with him, and have a wall in your room covered with pictures of him despite the fact you have yet to manage your second civil conversation with him yet?” Tikki raised hir eyebrow at that.

“I—th-that's different!” Marinette tried to argue, face scarlet. “Th-those reference are for pictures! I-I mean! Pictures for reference! For design!”

“Right,” Tikki said, clearly not believing hir holder's words. “You know, there is such a thing as being attracted to someone you don't know and asking them out to see if you can hit it off with them after all.”

“That's not how it is,” Marinette insisted.

“Because you don't want it to be, or because you don't think it's possible?”

“What?” 

“Are you so determined that he couldn't actually be interested in you before randomly starting today because you don't want him to have been interested in you all along, because, say, you like Adrien instead and don't want to think you are hurting his feelings? Or is it because you don't think yourself worthy of some random cute boy you've never met looking at you and seeing something he'd want to pursue without you having to put any sort of extraordinary work into it?”

“I...” Marinette tried to put her mind in order. “I just don't think he really meant it. Every time I told him off or pulled away, he'd just smile and laugh it off like it was all just some big joke. A show-off kind of guy like that just flirts with every girl. It's not that he's ever actually interested, he's just trying to be impressive and get as many girls to give in to his charms as possible to boost his own ego, regardless of who _she_ is or what her feelings are.”

“You really have a thing against show-offs, don't you?” Tikki asked.

“Because, that's how bullies act. Always trying to prove they're better than everyone else,” Marinette pointed out.

“It's also how people act when they want attention. Children are always doing so with their parents, and many people try to do so with those they're attracted to, especially young people with their first crushes,” Tikki countered. “Wouldn't _you_ want _Adrien_ to be impressed by you?”

Marinette sighed and dropped the subject, discontent that her complaints about her partner were being countered. So maybe she didn't know how to word it, but it didn't mean it was invalid that she felt discontent at Chat Noir's sudden change in personality. Those first two days he had been exceptionally patient and understanding, so incredibly supportive, he was like a dream. But today he had been so pushy and unprofessional, brushing aside her worries and cracking jokes when she was trying to be serious. It had made her irritable about all his actions that day, and she wasn't quite ready to let it go until she was sure this change wasn't permanent.

To think that for a bit there, she had thought she'd have to make a choice between him and Adrien. But Adrien was just so much more wonderful all the way around! He was so beautiful, and kind, and understanding, and gentle... He hadn't even been mad when she ruined his shirt when he saved her from hurting herself when she tripped and fell. Or when she spilled tea all over the table. Or any of the other accidents she had around him.

By this point, she had wandered her way into the 8th arrondissement and so the streets were lining themselves once more with little shops that tourists and locals could enjoy while taking in the sights of the city. She hardly ever came out this way just to window shop, as there were stores closer to her home that had everything she needed, but as she passed a little craft shop, her eye was caught by a flash of colour that turned her head. 

A few bundles of blue yarn, pale but vibrant, sitting in a basket. The colour of it would just look absolutely stunning on Adrien. There wasn't enough for anything large or extravagant, but maybe as a highlight or trim, or perhaps as an accessory? Before she knew it, her feet had entered the shop and carried her over to the basket of yarn. She lifted one of the bundles gently to examine it better, and was struck at once by how soft and almost silky the texture was. It wasn't like those thick, itchy wool she sometimes found, it was spun tightly and slipped through her fingers like thick water.

It was exquisite, and just like that, Marinette was walking out of the shop with all three bundles freshly purchased and hanging from her wrist in a plastic bag. Now all she had to do was decide what she would use it for...

~*~

The knock on Chloé's bedroom door drew her away from her pedicure with a frown. Her Papa and all the hotel staff with access up to her personal suite should know better than to be bothering her this time of evening. She got up and walked to the door, not bothering to remove the foam holding her toes apart, and yanked the door open, ready to give whoever was on the other side a thorough tongue lashing. What she found instead was a bashful Adrien, smiling at her as he worried the bottom hem of his shirt.

Chloé quickly catalogued this as her frown shifted to a more contemplative, confused sort. Nervous, lost, shy, begging; that's what his body language told her. “What are you doing here? I haven't threatened Oncle Gabriel to let you out in almost a month.”

“I... sneaked out?” he tried, looking at her habitually for cues, unsure how she would take such a blatant and bold declaration of rebellion even after all their years together and Chloé's own insistence that he needed more independence. For the briefest of moments, Chloé hated Gabriel with the passion of a thousand burning suns. She remembered a pair of boys full of life and energy, prone to mischief and always happy to play. Who made everything larger-than-life and didn't fear anything or anyone. Félix still had it, refined and matured from a lifetime of growing up related to famous people, but there. Adrien, on the other hand... Adrien was scared to even hug her in public because what would his father say if someone misunderstood and it got back to him.

Taking pity on her friend, Chloé tilted her head to the right, coiling the ends of her hair around her right index finger. Accepting her cue, Adrien's smile slipped into his innocent look, letting his shirt fall free of his hands and announcing with more ease, “Jean-Whatever let me up!”

“You wanted something?” Chloé asked, finally moving from the door to let her childhood friend and crush into the room.

Some of the innocent act faded again, replaced by a troubled look. “I... need some advice.”

Chloé sat on her bed, Adrien easily crawling up to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with her as he watched her finish her pedicure. Once she was done, she stretched her legs out strait, laying her head in the crock of his neck with an easy familiarity. Both children were so affection starved, such intimate poses had long become habit where gossiping busybodies couldn't see. It wasn't really any surprise to her when his arms wrapped around her midsection and he buried his nose in her bangs. Part of her ached, knowing only she was secretly treasuring this moment as more than just familial affection, but it was so easy to fall in love with someone who looked at you like you were their saviour. Who held you like you were their lifeline. Who needed you to love them so badly they built their lives around you.

It was easy to love Adrien Agreste. Even if it was hard knowing the feelings wouldn't ever be mutual.

Finally, Chloé asked, “What do you need?”

“Help... with homework...?” Adrien began, voice muffled slightly by her bangs. “That essay about the future... I don't want... to write what Père wants me to write. I don't want to be a model, I don't want to be the CEO of Gabriel, I don't want to date the girls he tells me to date and then marry the one he tells me to marry! I want-I want to make up my own mind, follow my own dreams! Chloé, I... I've recently met this amazingly perfect girl, she's smart, funny, adorable... and I-I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with her.”

“Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé clarified, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow as she pulled away to study her crush's face critically.

A blush shot across Adrien's cheeks. “What? No!” he answered, too fast for the thought to have never crossed his mind. So he was at least on some level aware that he had a crush on her, it seemed. But he was choosing to pursue someone else instead. Well, if she had to loose him to someone, at least it wasn't to the baker girl. “No one from school. I guess you could say we're work colleagues?”

“Who?” Chloé demanded, she worked hard to keep on top of the fashion world, it wouldn't do for the daughter of Audrey Bourgeois to ever be anything less than perfectly styled, and she couldn't remember any new models being hired for Gabriel lately that might have caught Adrien's eye, and definitely no cross-company shoots had happened lately. Was he maybe talking about some intern or something? Did he get a new stylist?

“You've never been introduced to her, so even if I told you her name you wouldn't recognize it,” he insisted.

“But let me guess, short black hair, Asian, and more cute than beautiful, right?” His flushed face was all the answer she needed. She smirked at herself, she was right, she had read his type perfectly. She batted her long, blond hair over her shoulder, despite her falling in love with him and knowing his type, she had too much pride to go trying to change herself just to please him. But still, she didn't think she could bring herself to look him in the eye right now while he talked about falling in love with another girl. So, she took his hand in hers, spread his fingers out over her knee, and pulled her deep red nailpolish over. “So, you were ranting...?”

He knew better from all his years of modelling than to try and take his hand back, and so surrendered to his friend's fancy. He had taken a moment to try and think if Chloé was right about his Lady being Asian, but grew worryingly confused as the harder he tried to focus on what she looked like, sounded like, even smelled like, the less clear the image of her in his mind became. By the time he gave up, with a slight migraine beginning to form, he was pretty sure she _might_ have dark hair, though he couldn't recall if it was short or just tied back.

He pushed such disturbing thoughts aside and got back to the topic of the essay itself. “Well, other than just wanting to date the girl I actually love rather than some girl I'm told to date, and would really rather date her now and not in another four years, there's also that I really have no interest in fashion. I don't want to be the CEO of a fashion industry for the rest of my life, I find it so boring and don't like it at all. I'd rather hand the company over to someone like _you_ who actually likes fashion and let you have fun with it.”

“Then, what _do_ you want to do?” Chloé prompted. She had finished the base coat on that hand and he offered her his other without prompting, carefully holding the still wet nails aloft so they didn't touch anything.

“Um... honestly? Ever since you finally got me to sit down and watch that new series of Sailor Moon—that Crystal one?--I've been looking up the planets and learning some really amazing things. I... like it a lot, and they have this really big observatory in Hawaii...”

“So you can have your dream of running away to somewhere tropical,” Chloé confirmed, causing Adrien to blush. “Am I still invited to come live with you there?”

“Well... maybe next door? And Félix can live on the other side? Oh, and Nino can be across the street!” he insisted.

“Right,” Chloé sighed. Another piece of proof that she's not the centre of his happily-ever-after anymore. She gestured that she wanted his other hand back as she reached for the gold and was soon drawing on the stripes of Majestia's emblem. “So, you get to geek out every night over complicated math and spend the day out in the sun with your mystery girl surrounded by all your friends and finally get to be with your brother again. That about sums it up?”

“Yeah... I knew you'd be able to boil it down to the basics for me,” Adrien praised, nuzzling the top of her head with his cheek as she worked.

“Well, I suppose Hawaii could use their own fashion mogul. Those flower-print shirts of theirs are horrible.”

“I don't think Hawaii is actually the ones who came up with that shirt,” Adrien pointed out, giggling softly at her playfulness.

“Shut up,” she chided. “Point stands regardless. I could probably run a fashion industry from there. They have enough colourful birds and flowers to inspire for a decade at least, and we could even promote some lines by saying they're to raise endangered species awareness or something.”

“That's my Chlo, always finding a way to turn a good thing profitable...” Adrien cooed, switching hands again.

“You better believe it! No investor is ever going to put a penny behind any cause if they can't see the profit in it. Any bleeding heart fool that would do otherwise would never make it past their first investment!” Chloé insisted.

“See, that's why you'd be so much better running Père's company than me,” Adrien said. “But if I don't write what he wants me to, and some fan gets a hold of it...”

He didn't have to finish the sentence. They had both been hounded by paparazzi enough in their lives. There was a reason she had been moved to the penthouse suite and his room was hidden behind tall walls with cameras stationed everywhere. Though le Gorille still wasn't sure how that photographer had made it all the way past all of that and into Adrien's bedroom. Thankfully he had already finished getting dressed after his bath before coming out. Fans were scary and would go to any length to invade celebrity privacy in the deluded belief that it made them more knowledgeable about their favourite celebrity than other fans were.

And that drone she had found outside her window after waking up one morning... her screams had woken three floors worth of guests, and left the owner of the drone rotting in a jail cell under charges of paedophilia, stalking, and harassment.

“Oncle Gabriel would punish you if that happened,” she confirmed, knowing roughly what that would mean for her poor friend-turned-crush. “Well, your answer's simple. Adrien Agreste has to do what he is told, and so will hand in the paper written exactly like it's supposed to be.” She watched for less than a second as those words killed his soul, and hated herself for ever having to say them in the first place. “Meanwhile, my Adrichou can keep his secret dreams and work towards them on his own terms. After all, once my Adrichou turns eighteen, he's technically a free man to go wherever he pleases and do whatever he wants and doesn't need any parental approval for any of it. I could even be persuaded to help out and donate a corner of my room to geeky sciency things in exchange for regular trips out to that one pet store with all the cute fluffy hamsters that the customers are allowed to pet...”

Adrien enveloped her in a huge hug, bordering a glomp. “You are the best, thank you!” he exclaimed.

“Of course I'm the best! But should you really be saying that to me when you have a girl you're courting? Seriously!” Chloé teased. Then she huffed. “Actually, no. Scratch that, better idea. Unless this mystery girl of yours can pass _my_ critical inspection to make sure she's worthy of my Adrichou, she's not allowed to hold the title of the most precious girl in your life, no matter what you try and say in contradiction to the matter!”

Adrien actually laughed at that, which hurt her heart a little, but in a good way she thought. “Don't worry, Chlo. No matter what, you will always be precious to me, even once I'm married and living in Hawaii. And I promise, as soon as I've gotten up the guts to confess and we're an official item, you will be the first person I introduce her to.”

Though Chloé's heart was broken, knowing he was dreaming of marrying another girl, she also had known all along that this was the way the future would end up. She wasn't the image the Gabriel brand was looking for, she was too proud and bold and couldn't gain the adoration of the Style Queen to save her life. Though she loved fashion, she lacked the assets to make her appealing enough to Gabriel to counter her rebellious streak he knew she had. 

Adrien didn't love her as anything more than a friend, and Gabriel would never force him into a relationship with her, so there had never been any hope to begin with. She just hoped this mystery girl had what it took not to break as well.

~*~

It was after dinner when Adrien finally left Chloé's and attempted to sneak back into the house. He knew at this time of day most the staff had gone home and Nathalie would be busy trying to put together all the reports for the day and so would likely not be watching any of the monitors. With any luck, no one would be any wiser that Chat Noir had snuck out to go fight an akuma.

However, he had barely managed to finish scaling the gate when le Gorille burst out of the front door and all but ran down the steps to get to him. Surprisingly, the large man pulled him forward into a hug, giant hairy-knuckled hand cupping his head. Adrien shifted nervously to look up and saw the naked worry in the large man's eyes and knew he was too late to try and beg le Gorille to pretend he hadn't been caught out.

After a moment, le Gorille stepped away, ready to lead the boy to his fate, when a flash of red caused him to freeze and grab for his charge's wrist. He brought Adrien's hand up and the sunshine child explained, “Chloé had her nail polish out.”

Le Gorille grunted and nodded, smiling at the Majestia pattern. He still remembered her at seven years old showing up with her arms overflowing with comic book issues, pushing past him and declaring that her mother had been saved by Victory and so now she was going to teach Adrien everything there was to know about superheroes so he'd understand just how amazing that was. 

That had been the first time he had let the children into his personal room. Before then, the little blonds were all terrified of him because of his large stature and lack of tongue. It was Chloé that had always called him “that gorilla of yours” because she couldn't remember his name, until eventually the twins caught on and started following suit. But when he showed them his room full of figurines and comics going back right to the old Ultraman ones from the 1940's, he seemed to have won them over. The fact that he loved the superheroes as much as they did apparently imprinted on them for life that he was a good guy.

Now, over five years later, superheroes was still one of the things that they all shared. Adrien had even sneaked his laptop into his room a few times to curl up with him and watch interviews. He felt bad for the young celebrity as he lead the boy inside to face his father's wrath. However, if he wanted to remain to care for the child, he couldn't raise any objections about how he was raised. It was a well known secret within the household that any staff members that tried to object to Gabriel's parenting method would be fired on the spot, followed by a somewhat hefty donation made to the mayor and the good city of Paris to help encourage the burying of any ill rumours being spread by disgruntled ex-staff.

If anyone was to be around to care for Adrien at all, they had to follow Gabriel's orders to the letter, and sadly that included the dolling out of punishments. He squeezed the boy's shoulder, the only act of comfort and protection he could offer his young charge as they entered the main foyer to find Gabriel already standing on the landing he used to make himself seem impressive whilst he reprimanded whoever was forced to stand on the ground floor below. A pathetic, almost insulting power-play, that was nearly laughable to a grown man of Georges's stature, but an effective one against a twelve year old boy raised to have no confidence if the shake in his shoulder was to be believed.

At Gabriel's glare, Georges was unfortunately forced to abandon the child in the middle of the empty room to face the egomaniac alone. Adrien trembled, as he looked up at his father, knowing how deeply in trouble he would be. He didn't have to wait long for his father's anger to boil over, it never took long for that, but Adrien still tried to make himself look as small and pathetic as possible in hopes of eliciting some parental reaction regardless. Of course, it didn't work.

“What were you doing out of the house? You were scheduled to be working on your Chinese lessons this afternoon! You were not given permission to leave the premises!” Gabriel began.

“I-I got finished early,” Adrien began explaining, “so I started doing my homework. But-but I didn't understand some things and I didn't know how to explain it over texts so cause I know her and she's in my class I went to go ask Chloé...” Though he was lying through his teeth on that one, he knew if she was asked Chloé would back up any story he came up with, no questions asked.

“If you were having difficulty with course work, why did you not call for Nathalie?” 

“E-everyone was so busy... I di-didn't want to be a bother...” Adrien explained, looking down in shame, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

Gabriel scoffed at that. “Always so emotional, just like your Mère! How many times must you be told to get a hold of that damned bleeding heart of yours! It's an embarrassment and makes the company look weak to have you flailing about all the time! You're the one who chose to deliberately disobey me, so it's time to man up and accept that in the real world, there are consequences to your actions!”

Adrien really wanted to express how he wouldn't know what the real world was like because his father kept him locked up inside his room all the time, but he knew such lip would only make the situation worse, so he held his tongue.

“You will not be attending collège tomorrow. You will be confined to your room until Nathalie comes to fetch you Monday morning, and you will be checked up on so if you think you can get out of this by sneaking out again, you've got another thing coming! Consider this a warning, if you even put one toe out of line again, you will be pulled from public school completely and never allowed to return. Your doors will have bolt-locks installed from the outside and your windows will be replaced by double-paned bulletproof glass that doesn't open! Do I make myself perfectly clear!?”

Adrien's heart broke. He wouldn't be able to see his new friends from school. He'd never be able to earn Marinette's friendship. He'd not be able to get out to be Chat Noir. He'd never see his Lady again... He fell to his hands and knees, sobbing as visions of everything he wanted and loved being ripped away from him like his mother and twin were danced behind his eyes.

Gabriel sneered at the sight, the pleasure of his threat being effective doused by the knowledge that he had _just finished_ reprimanding the child about his overly-emotional displays. “Georges! Remove Adrien from the main foyer and relocate him to his room, his little tantrum is being disruptive to my working environment and an embarrassment should any guests come by and see him.” With that order issued, Gabriel returned to his atelier without a second glance at his broken son.

~*~

Saturday night rolled around. Through a little bit of a lie claiming that part of their mark on their essay would be to peer-critique their seatmate's essay, Adrien had managed to at least communicate a little with one of his new friends. Nino's essay had been... interesting. It was the required two pages, but most of it in the middle had gone off on an impassioned tangent all about how the music in a movie could actually be used to help tell the story. It was clear that this was a new discovery to his friend, who was excited to share his revelation with the world. And then it prattled on a bit unfocused about all the ways Nino himself could use such a technique to make his own movies in the future, before having a little bit tacked on at the very end like an afterthought about film schools.

Adrien typed out a polite critique, fixing some spelling or punctuation errors he noticed and pointing out that Nino should probably condense his explanations of how the technique works and instead fill the space with more about his education to get a better grade. He even suggested how to do it, by comparing the film schools by how famous they are and how many students from them actually get into the field to show he's taking the decision of where to apply seriously.

But, that was where the troubles began. He had been sitting there for the last five minutes with his attachments window open on his email, mouse hovering indecisively between two essays. Nino had written an essay that held all his heart and soul to be bared to the cruel world on blind faith in Adrien's words that it would be okay. He had willingly put himself out there for the people to mock, sharing something that excited him and that he admired and hoping someone else would like that part of him.

He thought of Alya, only thirteen and already putting herself out there to pursue her future as a journalist, auditioning on national television for a news anchor position against hundreds of other teens, some of which were several years older than her. How she alone had the guts to put her life on the line to film the akuma fights when even the adults she was attempting to emulate wouldn't show their faces. Of sweet, shy, nervous little Marinette who was fighting with everything she had to reach her dreams and help her friend, despite her own fears.

He thought of Chloé and what she said about separating himself from the brand's image and only being the real him behind closed doors where no one could see. Of hiding his dreams behind a facade that he only pursued in secret. He felt kind of sick, like that feeling he felt when he'd get a cold or flue the next day. That feeling of being unable to reach his full potential, that everything he did was done while wearing bungie ropes pulling him in the opposite direction. Like he wasn't worthy of those pure and kind people he'd like to consider his friends.

Then, he remembered his father's blowup. The threats of what he would do to Adrien if he failed to fall in line. Of what that would mean for his time as Chat Noir. If he wasn't there to support Ladybug, she would have to face the akuma all on her own, scared and ill-equipped for direct confrontation. There would be no one to protect her from swarms of Stonehearts closing in, or save her from onslaughts of Alimenters. No one to push back her fears or lift her spirits, to remind her how absolutely wonderful she was when her confidence was shaken.

And worst off, he wouldn't be there to share that deep eternal love with his soulmate, to complete each other the way they were meant to. She'd never see him again, and never know why. And she wouldn't be the only one he'd never see. Nino, who was teaching him so much on how to be just a normal boy, how to hang out and have fun. Alya, who loved superheroes as much as he and Chloé did, and who he was sure would be great friends with them if he could just get the two girls to sit down and talk civilly. Marinette... the girl he saw so much potential in, the friend he would never have the chance to make.

He moved his mouse and clicked the file labelled “Astroboy” and dragged it over to the recycle bin icon and dropped it in. He then attached the file titled “My Future” and hit send.

~*~

Marinette panicked as she held up the shirt she had just finished. It was a simple striped long-sleeved t-shirt, predominantly black and grey, but with lines in two different deep blues. Over all, it was a simple design but not a bad looking one.

“What's wrong, Marinette? Didn't you want to get the shirt finished as an apology for getting icing all over him Thursday?” Tikki asked hir holder.

“But-but just walking up and giving him a shirt would be weird! I mean, I went and tracked his measurements down on his official fanpage to make it! That can't be normal, Tikki! And he wasn't in school yesterday, and Nino had mentioned him saying something about being in trouble as the reason he was being kept home and needed notes taken for him? That had to have been because I ruined his shirt! I made his papa mad, and now he's being punished for it! What ever made me think I could be good enough to design the son of the Gabriel Agreste a shirt as an apology?!”

“Marinette! Please, calm down!” Tikki advised. “I don't see what the problem is, why can't you give him the shirt you made for him?”

“But what if he doesn't like it? What if he thinks I'm creepy for making it for him? It's been days since I accidentally ruined his shirt, surely it would be strange to just randomly show up in class Monday with a shirt I designed personally and made specifically for him after so long, right?”

“Marinette, it was two days ago. By Monday it will be four days. That's not an unreasonable length of time to take in order to obtain a replacement for someone. Especially seeing as he wasn't in class the day after the event and this will be your next available meeting point,” Tikki reasoned to the emotional girl.

Marinette wasn't having it. “But it's so weird! People don't usually go designing things for others like this!”

“So what are you going to do then? Keep it until you manage to inadvertently ruin another shirt of his?” Tikki questioned, giving up on talking sense into hir holder.

“No way! That would be even creepier! I mean, why would I just randomly happen to have all these clothes made just for Adrien's proportions if I wasn't some weird, creepy, stalker chick? N-no way, not happening, nuh-uh, nope!”

Tikki sighed. “Then may I ask what exactly you do intend to do with it? If not give it to him now that you've made it, or later when you come across a similar situation...?”

Marinette was stumped by that, having to think for a few minutes on what she really was going to do. “Well, I suppose I'll just have to save it for his birthday...”

“Didn't the internet say that was next week, anyway? If you're only waiting another two or three days more, why not just give it to him on Monday?” ze asked.

“Well, maybe Christmas then...? Or something? Some other day that is appropriate to give gifts on? Y-yeah, I'll just... put it aside and give it to him... when I have a good reason to give it to him,” Marinette declared.

With that decided, Marinette grabbed a spare box and put the shirt into it. As she wrapped it up and tied it off with a bow, her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the growing stack of designs for boys and men. There were so many in there that she was eager to start making. Jackets and accessories and tops and bottoms and bags and... her fingers itched to create. She put the box away in her chest, waiting for a day she felt confident enough to present it to her crush. In the meantime, she picked up her knitting needles and the baby blue yarn and began to knit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously debated whether to put in that part where Adrien overhears the girls talking about him, or if I should have ended the scene instead with him going on about how he was getting to eat a Ladybug cupcake, and wondering if kissing her would taste like strawberries and vanilla as well. I decided on the former to keep the scene purely Adrienette.
> 
> I had to watch almost three hours of entitled people videos on youtube to be able to get the voice for that bigot and Élodie's reaction, and I still feel dirty for adding in that slur. But sadly people like that really are that rude, just don't go around repeating it if you don't want to look like an entitled, rude, racist bigot as well.
> 
> I personally like Alya's dynamic with her sisters, it helps make her unique among the other Miraculous holders as the only other holder to be really shown having a sibling relationship of any prime importance in the show is Luka, and he doesn't show up for another season and a half. As such, I'll probably keep on sneaking references to them in here and there. I know Nino has his little brother, but the fact that we got to like... the third season before he was even mentioned leads me to think they're likely not very close. Alya brought up the twins like, almost right away when the series started, and her older sister seems the protective sort that would be trying to keep the little ones all safe.
> 
> And it is surprisingly hard to write someone attempting to make jokes, but really really failing at it. Poor Kitty trying so hard and doing everything wrong and causing so many of his own problems in the future. Though I did try and make clear that there had been an initial spark of interest in him on Marinette's part, but also why she chose Adrien in the long run. What qualities he has that actually attract her and what she finds repulsive so that it can set up the hurdles their relationship will have to get over for any kind of romance to develop. Though Tikki might be a little OOC.
> 
> Also, Alya having to face the cold, hard reality that she can't get everything she wants and she'll have to make sacrifices to pursue what's right. After all, if being good was the easy path, no body would ever be bad. And Chloe, I just feel bad for her. She has a crush but knows it'll never go anywhere, she's holding on to her dream of it for as long as she can, but knows she'll have to give it up before too much longer. And Adrien having to choose between being a hero and having friends or being honest about who he is and what he wants in life. I've stuck him with some hard choices in this, but at least he has some support in the likes of Chloe and le Gorille.


	5. Bulleur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien turns thirteen, but his birthday doesn't exactly go smoothly. When his best friend is akumatized over his not getting a party, can he really bring himself to fight his friend?
> 
> \----
> 
> Adrien hurried to the grocery store at a half-jog. “You'll have to be satisfied with whatever cheese they have,” he told Plagg as he carried the kwami to get food.
> 
> “This is why you should always carry some Camembert on you...” Plagg grumbled. “See, if you had accepted my gift for you this morning, we wouldn't be in this mess.”
> 
> “I was at home!” Adrien argued. 
> 
> “And then there was an emergency, and now we're stuck in this situation,” ze countered. “It's just being prepared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I spent a few hours looking up various maps of Paris and all of it's districts, or “arrondissements” as they call them, and reading up on what each one has. I've sort of made up my mind that I think Collège Françoise Dupont, and therefore Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie would be nestled in the 7th arrondissement, a block or two off of Boulevard Saint-Germain, right over by where it transitions into the 6th arrondissement. Adrien, however, lives over in the 16th arrondissement because that's where all the rich houses and mansions are. And as for Master Fu, he lives in Chinatown in the 13th arrondissement. Chloe, for those wondering, lives in the 8th arrondissement, because that's where the real life hotel that the show's Hôtel Le Grand Paris is in. The REAL Grand Paris is in the 9th arrondissement and looks quite different from the hotel in the show, which is actually based off of Hôtel Plaza Athénéé, but everyone calls it Le Grand Paris in the show, so in this universe Hôtel Plaza Athénéé is called Le Grand Paris instead and is owned by the Mayor, André Bourgeois.
> 
> Also, does anyone know where I can get a transcript of the french version of the episode Timebreaker? Or like stream a sub of it or something? I have most the episodes, but Timebreaker, Dark Blade, The Mime, Rogercop, and Copycat I only have in English. Not that I mind, I just know the English transcript isn't always the most accurate to the original intention.

The sunlight of the early September morning flowed in from the skylight and lit Marinette's midsection in a glow. It bathed Tikki in a soothing warmth that melded comfortably with the warmth radiating from hir holder's body. The gentle rise and fall of her chest rocking the tiny god with a soothing rhythm. 

Suddenly, the calm atmosphere was penetrated by the sharp chirp of Marinette's phone's alarm going off. For once not sleeping through it past the first few seconds, the young girl bolted up with a cry of “Happy birthday!” sending the kwami tumbling off of her. She scrambled off the foot of her bed and down the steps to her loft, still swelling with excitement for the day. “Happy bir--” in her rush, she missed a step and stumbled the rest of the way down, the momentum of her impromptu run causing her to ram face-first into the wall at the bottom of her stairs.

But, not dissuaded by her little mishap, Marinette danced to her computer chair, dropping into it and spinning around a few times. “Happy birthday!” As she came to a stop in front of her keyboard, she hit the space button to pull her PC out of sleep mode. She sighed at the wallpaper she had finished the night before. A collage of some of her favourite pictures of him, the ones where he looked the most like he did when she saw him in class, put together over a deep pink background and overlaid with a pink and white “string of fate” effect she had found in the image editor's options. She sighed, settling her chin in her propped up fists. “Happy birthday, Adrien!” 

Unable to help herself, she leaned forward and kissed the screen. Tikki giggled at her, but it was a more amused sound than jeering, so Marinette chose to let it slide without popping her bubble of bliss.

~*~

Adrien brushed his teeth in his private bathroom, half asleep having stayed up the night before to finish his homework after he had used up part of his evening with another unscheduled Miraculous training session. Plagg had then gone on a miniature rant about how he shouldn't be spending so much time training without his Lady, something about unbalancing the forces of the universe and bad luck, yadda yadda. Not that he would object to training with his Lady if he knew how to find her, he would love to spend more time with her than he already did, but she had outright rejected him when he had asked for her number.

Besides, he was pretty sure Plagg was just being lazy again. After all, the kwami had tried to talk him out of fighting Stoneheart that second time as well so they could just have a day off. Speaking of his kwami, ze chose that moment to fly into the room, bearing an especially rank slice of Camembert all wrapped up in a little red ribbon. “Happy birthday, Adrien!” Plagg chimed, bringing the cheese up under Adrien's nose.

Adrien recoiled, the smell assaulting him making him feel a sharp twinge of nausia. “Ugh! Plagg! Get that cheese away from me! It smells disgusting!” He tried to plug his nose to help keep the smell out, and was minorly disgusted when Plagg just shrugged and downed the cheese himself, ribbon and all.

“Your loss,” ze insisted, trying to mask the minor insult about the rejected gift behind a shell of indifference.

Adrien took his fingers away now that the source of stench was gone, though the smell still lingered a bit in the air, and smiled at the floating cat. “Thanks, anyway,” he said, reaching out a tentative finger and scratching at the little kwami's cheek as though ze was a real cat. “Mère, Félix, and our grandparents will be calling later this evening, after everyone's done work and lessons and all. Maybe I could introduce you?”

“No one can know about me,” Plagg reminded.

“But Mère and Félix already know about fairies,” Adrien tried to point out. “Surely it would be alright if it were them?”

“Fairies and me, we aren't the same thing,” Plagg insisted.

“Really?” Adrien's heart fell. So he hadn't been deemed worthy of seeing the fairies again?

“We're both magical extra-dimentional beings, but fairies are nature spirits, native to this world of yours after it was well established, while we kwami are much older. We are personifications of the forces of the universe, billions of years older than this mudball you call home.”

“Oh,” was all Adrien could say as he tried to process the information he had been told. “I had assumed you were a Cat Sidhe.”

“That... isn't completely incorrect?” Plagg admitted, scratching the back of hir neck. “Rather, the Cat Sidhe is based off me. There is no real Cat Sidhe, that was the name one of my holders chose a few centuries back. He was Keltoi and preferred to stay in the north, out of the way of Greece, which made being with that amazon Beetle holder kind of hard.”

“Wait, amazons? Greece? Plagg, that was thousands of years ago, not hundreds!” Adrien corrected.

Plagg shrugged. “Time's relative. Maybe for you there's a difference, but to me they're hardly anymore different than saying you've only been Chat Noir a few days versus a few weeks. As I said, I am _billions_ of years older than your _sun_.”

Adrien blinked as he absorbed that piece of information. Then his face split into a grin, “Can you tell me what the universe was like when it began?!”

“Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to go to that collège place?” Plagg sidestepped. 

Adrien squawked and scrambled to finish getting ready. He headed to the dining hall with an extra swell in his heart. It was his birthday today, perhaps his father had deigned to come and eat with him today? He was hoping to ask him in person, after all. It was Friday, and his birthday happened to fall at the end of the week this year, he wanted to see if he couldn't invite his few friends from class over after school for an hour or two to celebrate. 

It didn't have to be much, he just thought it would be nice to have a real birthday party now that he actually had friends to have it with. When his mother had been around, there had been parties every year on their birthday. He wouldn't call them birthday parties as everyone invited were all high-society adults from either the fashion or entertainment industry, but they had all come every year with a pair of presents, using it as a chance to try and show each other up on who could get the boys the nicest things.

However, when Adrien entered the room, only his place was set, and his heart fell. He made his way to his seat lethargically and began his lonely breakfast. It was within those first five minutes that Nathalie entered the room, heels clicking against the stone floors with a rhythm Adrien was sure he'd be able to recognize in his sleep. She stopped by the table and handed him his tablet. “Here is your schedule, Adrien.”

“Thanks, Nathalie,” he responded, taking the tablet and looking at it. He was being pulled from classes after lunch for a photoshoot, and then lessons and homework and his birthday call all scheduled in... She turned and started walking away, so he called after her. “H-hey, Nathalie? What did my father say about my birthday party?” he looked up at her, hoping she had merely forgotten to schedule it in.

“Um, well... he doesn't think it's a good idea...” she said over her shoulder, sounding vaguely apologetic but still wouldn't turn to look at him. 

“Obviously...” Adrien regretted, shoulders dropping.

“Happy birthday, Adrien,” Nathalie added before she walked out of the room.

~*~

Marinette made sure her present was definitely in her backpack before heading down the stairs for school. Because today was a special day, Marinette had opted to [dress up a little](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/lady-bug/images/7/7e/Chibi_Valentine%27s_day_Marinette_.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190327170229). Today she wore a red and white plaid overall dress with a pleated miniskirt over top of a white baby-tee with frilled edges and a pair of blue denim capri jeans. To finish her look off, she added a red headband to her usual pigtails.

From the kitchen her mother called, “Marinette, please clean your room when you come home from school.”

Marinette paused to turn and look at her. “Maman! It's Friday! I promised to hang out with Alya.”

“Well, alright. Then I'll just clean your room. Don't get mad if I happen to stumble across your secrets. Like your emails or your diary--” Sabine said.

“Alright, I get it! I'll do it, I promise!” Marinette insisted, coming over to kiss her mother goodbye. Hurrying out the door, she called back over her shoulder a distracted, “Happy birthday! (“Hmm?” Sabine raised a confused eyebrow.) I-I mean, have a good day!”

“Have a good day, ma chérie,” Sabine called after her, wondering who's birthday her daughter had been focusing on to slip up like that.

When Marinette made it down the stairs to the bakery, she found Alya already standing and waiting for her, munching on a fruit tart Tom had pressed into her hands. The whole batch had been bad because the delivery man who usually brought the flour in had injured himself and so Tom had to be the one to move all the bags of flour in himself. As a result the tarts had stayed in the oven too long and over-cooked. They weren't bad, just a darker brown than they should have been and so couldn't be sold. As such, the family were eating tarts today, and free tarts for staff and friends.

Marinette gave her papa a kiss and said goodbye to the part-timer manning the front counter before heading to school with Alya. “I don't care what you say, getting free bakery food is awesome,” the darker girl commented as they exited. When they reached the light outside, Alya frowned. “You got a red mark on your forehead, did you drop your phone on your face again?”

“No, I stumbled on the stairs and ended up running head-first into the wall,” Marinette shared, not even bothering to try and hide it.

“Oh, girl...” Alya sighed, already getting used to how accident prone her friend was. “You need to try and be more careful.”

“I know,” Marinette muttered, eyes flickering downward.

“Did you at least remember to bring a present?” Alya pressed as they crossed the street to Collège Françoise Dupont. 

“Yep, I tripled checked it was in my bag.”

“So, which one did you end up going with? The jacket? The bracelet?” Alya asked.

“The scarf,” Marinette said.

“Oh, that pretty blue one? Jeez, I wish there had been enough of that to make me something as well. Can you imagine a big comfy afghan out of it?” Alya gushed. They were just reaching the steps of the school when a familiar silver car pulled up and let the birthday boy out. With a squeak, Marinette grabbed Alya's arm and dove behind the hand rail and bushes there. “What the...?!”

“I-I don't--!” Marinette squeaked out, almost as surprised as Alya. She didn't know why she had done that. She had just seen him coming and dove for cover all on her own.

Alya chuckled good naturedly as she rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. I get it. But you know you're going to have to face him eventually, right?”

Out on the stairs, Nino stood sentinel, amusing himself as he waited with a container of bubbles. He had confiscated them from his little brother, Chris, when he wouldn't leave his things alone the night before. He was using up the evidence before their mom got a chance to hear about it and force him to give it back and apologize just cause Chris was the baby. When Adrien got out and said his goodbye to his bodyguard without his usual excitement on today of all days, Nino felt his coil of discontent grow. 

“'Sup dude? And happy b-day, by the way,” Nino called, stepping down the last few stairs to meet his blond friend part way.

“I'm sorry, Nino, but, um...” Adrien began, looking nervous as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt and couldn't quite meet Nino's eye. “It-it seems you can't come over tonight after all... Père says... it would be... disruptive to his work environment?”

“Dude! But it's your birthday!” Nino argued.

Adrien shrunk into himself even more in shame and embarrassment. “I-it's okay... I'm used to it...” he insisted, his voice quiet.

“Seriously dude? Was your father always that depressing?” Nino asked, blowing bubbles into the wind. “He must have completely forgotten what it's like to be young and wanting to party.”

“I think he was probably _always_ old-fashioned, even as a kid,” Adrien confided. “At least I tried...”

Nino slung a comforting arm over Adrien's shoulder and pulled him in conspiratorially. “But it's your birthday, buddy! You should pester him!”

Meanwhile, Alya had confiscated Marinette's bag and dug her present out. Forcing it into the designer's hands, she insisted, “This is your chance to give it to him and wish him a happy birthday! He looks down right now, you can give him your gift and lift his spirits, it'll be great!”

“I-I dont--” Marinette began to object.

“Oh, come on!” Alya pressured. “You can do it! You can do it!”

“I can do it! I can do it!” Marinette repeated, trying to build herself up rather than psych herself out. She stood up to go and give the boy she liked the present she had made.

Adrien was in the middle of attempting to explain to Nino how pestering his father really wasn't a good idea, when Nino decided, “Well, you know what? I'm going to have a talk with him, alright?”

“No, forget it. He's not the type to change his mind,” Adrien insisted, worried that his friend's actions would get his father angry and him in trouble as a result.

And Marinette sat back down. “I can't do it! I can't do it!”

Alya groaned at her, “Hell yes you can! No more phony excuses! It's time!” she scolded, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders and shoving her out in front of the boys.

Marinette screamed and flailed as she attempted not to face-plant. Adrien and Nino, as well as several people passing by, paused to look at the blunette. On the top of the stairwell, Chloé, who had been waiting for Adrien to finish talking with his little friend so he could escort her to class, began watching with interest at how their interaction played out. Marinette, noticing everyone looking at her, hurried to straiten up, holding the present behind her back nervously. “Um...” she forced a giggle and flashed a hand up in a wave.

The boys exchanged a confused look, before Adrien mirrored the gesture, nervous giggle and all. Chloé, watching from above, rolled her eyes and groaned. She had noticed the present in Marinette's hands and wracked her brain to realize that it really was early in the school year, and that meant... “Hold it! Did you see that? Don't tell me today is Adrien's birthday?!” she demanded from Sabrina.

Her only female friend looked nervously down at her tablet, quickly searched Adrien up on social media, and saw that it really was listed as today. With a gasp, Sabrina nodded and tried to smile. “Uh-huh.”

“Ugh!” Chloé groaned, putting her face in her hand. “I really have to do everything myself! Really, why are you so useless?!” She then proceeded to storm down the steps to where Marinette was still trying to stumble her way through a nervous explanation and stood there to watch the disaster girl in action with one hip cocked.

“I, er, wanted...” she forced another giggle. “How should I put that... Gift you... a gift... you... no, uh, I mean--” 

Chloé yawned exaggeratedly, already done with this bumbling idiot trying to make her fangirl moves on her Adrien. He had already decided on another girl, so Dupain-Cheng should just stop embarrassing herself and back off. Deciding to 'help' her with that, Chloé roughly shoved her aside, cutting off her babbling as she squawked and was knocked to the ground. “Set aside, idiot!” She noticed Adrien's eyes follow the blunette in worry, and so quickly stepped in to distract him before his brain could switch gears to scolding her. “Happy birthday, Adrichouuuu...” she chimed, her best cute face presented. She then threw her arms around his neck and gave him a long peck on the cheek.

“Ah, well... thanks, Chlo,” he said after a few seconds, placing his hands on her ribcage and gently removing her to a more comfortable distance. She still had her arms around his neck, but there was space now between their bodies and she was no longer kissing him. He smiled down at her warmly. 

“Pest...” Marinette grumbled from where she lay forgotten on the ground. Alya face-palmed as Marinette picked herself up and crawled back over to where they had been hiding.

“Did you get the present I sent you?” Chloé cooed.

“Uh... no?” Adrien replied, looking quite confused and very slightly suspicious.

“ _What?!_ Ugh, these mailmen! I bet they had to go back to get help because the package was heavy! Such brats!” Chloé complained dramatically. Adrien's face shifted to one of patient understanding. She then went back to hugging Adrien as her voice turned sweet once more. “I'll make sure you get my present this evening!” She gave him another noisy kiss on the cheek and headed inside.

Nino looked after Chloé, then grinned suggestively at Adrien, punching him in the arm playfully. “Look at you, stud! I didn't realize you two were like _that_ , you had only told me you were friends. If I'd known, I wouldn't have started encroaching on your mornings together...”

Adrien laughed it off, “Thanks, but really, we're not. We're more like siblings than anything. Chlo's bad at dates and names, she probably overheard us talking about my birthday and felt guilty she forgot again, so came and made that story up to excuse the fact she didn't have a gift for me.”

“And the kisses?” Nino prompted. “That looked an awful lot like a girl talking to her boyfriend...”

Adrien shrugged. “Like I said, we're close. We just have a different concept with each other of personal space.”

“Alright...” Nino allowed. “But you know, if you do have like a secret girlfriend thing going on with her or anything, you don't have to lie to me about it. I'd totally have your back and cover for you.”

“Thanks, man, but no. The girl I like is... someone else,” Adrien admitted as they walked to class.

While the boys were walking away talking about girls, Alya was trying to talk Marinette out of her downward spiral. “Get back out there! Don't let her get to you! You're worth more than her!” But Marinette just stayed curled up in defeat.

Sabrina came up beside Chloé as she re-entered the school building. “What did you get him?” she asked eagerly.

“For the time being, nothing. But you'll find one, and it better be amazing. And delivered on time!” Chloé ordered. “You know I'm terrible at dates, and yet you let me reach Adrichou's birthday without reminding me or giving me time to arrange a present for him! Therefore, this one's on you! So make sure you fix it!”

Sabrina cowered and nodded, hurrying after her while tapping at her tablet to try and find a present worthy of the school queen. 

~*~

Class let out for lunch, and Adrien made his way down to the front of the school where le Gorille would be picking him up to go to the photo shoot Nathalie had scheduled. As he stood there and waited, a quiet, feminine voice piped up from behind him. “U-um...”

Turning, Adrien smiled when he spotted a girl from the other class standing shyly and looking up at him. He kind of remembered that her name was Mireille Caquet and she was one of the girls that were competing in that KIDZ+ anchor competition Alya had been participating in. He thought she was rather good and probably had a good chance of making it to at least the semi-finals, and also kinda cute. Not Ladybug cute, but not unappealing, either. She'd sat with him and his friends those few times he'd managed to sit in the cafeteria to eat, so he knew she was kind and friendly. “Hi,” he greeted.

She smiled at him, her cheeks lighting up a little now that his attention was on her. “Hi, Adrien. I... I follow you on social media, and got an announcement that your birthday was coming up a few days back... um, I know it's not much, and I wasn't really sure you'd like it, but I got you this...” she trailed off, holding out a small package in a brightly coloured paper.

“Oh! That's... you really didn't have to... thank you,” Adrien said, taking the present from her, touched that she'd be thinking of him when they barely knew each other.

“It' was nothing, really,” Mireille said, tucking some stray hair behind her ear. “Um, listen, I was wondering, if you're not busy this weekend--”

“Ahem!” a throat cleared itself loudly and purposefully directly behind Mireille. The brown eyed girl jumped and turned to see Chloé standing there, feet planted shoulder width apart, hands firmly on her hips, leaning forward slightly and glaring. As soon as she was sure she had Mireille's undivided attention, one perfectly maintained eyebrow slowly raised pointedly.

Mireille changed from flushed to paper white to crimson in fast succession before muttering out a quick “Sorry...” and moving to leave.

Adrien shot Chloé a reprimanding look as she stepped up and latched herself to his arm, before calling out to the retreating Asian girl, “Sorry, my schedule's _really_ busy. But, um, maybe some other time?” Mireille just looked miserable and mortified as she nodded and hurried off.

Chloé gave him the side eye, “I thought you said you had a girl you liked already. That co-worker of yours?”

Adrien flushed. “I do! But what's that got to do with me making friends?”

Chloé looked at him for a long moment, he could tell she was debating something internally but had no way to tell what. She sighed heavily. “Oh, nothing,” she insisted at last.

Adrien let the subject drop, leaning his cheek a moment to rest atop her head in not quite a nuzzle because he didn't want to mess up her carefully styled hair. “So, when are we going to the pet store?”

“I told Nathalie I wanted you for two hours on Sunday,” Chloé informed conversationally. “And Jean-Paul went and bought a book on the solar system. It's sitting in my room. It's got this fold out in the middle of it that shows the whole thing to scale, but it's all too technical for me.”

Adrien grinned at that. “You tried to read my astrophysics book so I'd have someone to talk to about it...”

“Shut up,” she snipped, but there was no real bite.

“I can teach it to you so you can understand it as well, if you'd like,” Adrien offered, fighting to keep his smile down.

“I said, 'shut up',” she reminded him, starting to pout.

“You're beautiful regardless,” Adrien assured, earning a rueful smile. 

“Of course I am,” Chloé amended.

A moment later, Nino cautiously approached, eyeing the two as if trying to gauge if he were interrupting something private. Adrien's face lit up at his approach, so Chloé looked between him and the other boy before rolling her eyes and making a noise of disgust and left. Though she would not stick around to interact with Adrien's new friends, she at least gave him the space to make them.

As Nino began excitedly pitching the idea of his first short film to start building his portfolio with, Marinette and Alya looked on from the doors of the school. “Come on, you can do it!” Alya encouraged. She had spent all morning passing Marinette notes, trying to build up the girl's courage to just walk up, say 'happy birthday' and hand him his gift.

However, just as it seemed she had finally gotten up the guts, stepped out to hand over her present, a silver car pulled up and honked its horn, causing the blond boy to pull away from his friend and walk sadly to the car with a wave. Marinette watched the car pull away and sighed. “Why do my words not talk itself?”

“Er... you mean why can't you talk freely?” Alya tried to translate.

“Yes, that's it,” Marinette confirmed.

~*~

School had ended for the day with no return of Adrien. Because she wouldn't going to let her best friend go through her day not delivering the present that she had spent all week working on, Alya decided it was time to do a little investigating. Five minutes before class was over, Alya had pulled out her phone and started googling Gabriel Agreste. It didn't take long to find the address to his house, and so as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the day, Alya was dragging a feebly protesting Marinette out the door.

One metro ride later and the girls stood before the tall intimidating gates of the Agreste mansion, who's thick stone walls were nearly four times their height and the large building standing still taller beyond. They looked up at the huge building slack jawed for a minute, wondering just how rich their celebrity friend actually was for this to be his family home. But after a time, Marinette approached the mailbox. She could do this, this was much easier than trying to hand the mail to him directly. All she had to do was put it in the mailbox and it would be delivered to him by someone that worked in the house later.

She tried to open the chute, but pulling at it, pushing on it, swinging it open, nothing was working. She even tried clawing at it until she could get her fingernails into a groove and prying it open to no avail. “The mailbox won't even budge!” she whined at Alya.

“Try the door bell,” the other girl pointed to the intercom.

“Stop joking! What if Adrien picks up--” however, her argument was cut off by Alya pressing the button and a mechanical chime singing out 'ding-dong'. Marinette gave a small scream. 

Then a panel in the wall opened and a large black ball with a glowing red spot in the centre extended on a metal support, looking right down at Marinette. “ _Yes?_ ” a woman's voice came over the intercom.

“Uh... hello! I'm Adrien's classmate. And... uh... gift! For Adrien!” she showed the camera her package, then stood giving it the best smile she could muster while being so nervous.

“ _Drop it in the box,_ ” the woman responded, sounding so cold and robotic Marinette wasn't sure it was actually a human saying the lines. Were AIs smart enough to answer doorbells a thing yet? But, the mailbox flipped open and after a cursory glance inside showing it empty—so someone had to be coming around to collect the mail—Marinette put her present in. The moment her fingers let go of the present, the mailbox snapped shut again.

Marinette looked to the camera once more and tried to smile. “Thank you so much!” she chimed, but the camera just receded and the panel closed over it again. Marinette immediately dissolved into a fit of nerves. “Oh, I hope he's going to like it!”

“How could such a sweet Sunshine Child come from such a cold place?” Alya wondered aloud. “...Say, you did sign it, right?” Marinette's face changed to one of shocked dred and regret. Alya sighed, putting her hand to her head as she shook it slowly. “Marinette, Marinette... you are hopeless...”

~*~

Nathalie unwrapped the box and opened it, to find a baby blue knitted scarf. It was of comparable quality to the sorts of things their company would make mass produced, and was a colour that would truly flatter Adrien. As she looked it over to ensure nothing strange was hidden in it or the box, she wondered where the girl had bought it. Though she hadn't quite believed her about being Adrien's classmate, at least not _just_ his classmate, she assumed the girl was some bold fan of his by how she acted. However, Adrien was permitted to receive fanmail and gifts by Gabriel as long as they were inspected by a reliable member of staff and no articles of clothing or accessories were worn by him that were not from an appropriately affiliated brand. 

So, she took a photograph of the scarf to show Gabriel for his approval later before she re-wrapped the present and set it aside. If Gabriel approved of the design on his son, she would hand the gift over some time that night. Perhaps when he was scheduled to have his conference call with his mother's side of the family so they could witness his unwrapping of a present. That was something family members did, right?

The intercom clicked on a few moments later. “ _Who was it, Nathalie?_ ” Gabriel asked from the other room.

Nathalie pressed the button that would let her voice carry to the nursery under Adrien's room where Gabriel was tending the larval akuma with Nooroo. “A classmate of Adrien's, who dropped off a birthday present.”

“ _I assume you've also bought my present for him?_ ” Gabriel confirmed.

Nathalie flinched. “Ah, but, you didn't mention anything.”

“ _Of course I did_!” Gabriel thundered, angry at her accusation that he could forget anything.

“Yes, M Agreste! I'll take care of this right away,” Nathalie was fast to backpedal and correct herself. Gabriel Agreste was never wrong, any failure surrounding him was always everyone else's fault for not living up to his expectations. She should know that more than most, after all her primary job was making sure everything went according to her hero's desires.

Gabriel Agreste always got what he wanted because he always _deserved_ to get what he wanted. Anyone who argued with that simple logic clearly didn't know what they were talking about.

“ _Good_ ,” Gabriel said, cutting off the call. Nathalie put her head in her hands and panicked. What could she get Adrien in such short notice that would be worthy of the Gabriel brand name? Then suddenly she remembered the scarf in an unsigned box, and sighed with relief. It would be easy enough to write off a secret admirer's present as one from his father, if the girl had wanted him to know who had given it she would have handed it over herself, or at least attached a card.

Her planning was cut short by the chime of the doorbell, and Nathalie pulled up the camera to outside once more. “Yes?”

A boy she sort of recognized from talking to Adrien when he was picked up the few times she had gone along was standing outside. “ _Uh, hi..._ ” he smiled and waved at the camera. “ _Um, my name is Nino Lahiffe. I'm a friend of Adrien's, we're classmates. Um, would I be able to come in_?”

“One moment,” she said. Pressing a different button on her intercom, Nathalie asked, “M Agreste, Adrien's friend is here requesting an audience. What shall I tell him?”

“ _A friend? Not Mlle Bourgeois, is it_?”

“No, sir, a M Lahiffe.”

“ _I see. Have him wait five minutes and then bring him into the main foyer_ ,” Gabriel instructed. 

She was slightly surprised he was indulging this child, but readily agreed none the less. She got up and slowly made her way to the front gate, opening it manually as it took more time. Once the gate was open she stepped aside and let the boy enter, then closed the gate completely before finally turning and addressing the boy. “My name is Nathalie Sancoeur, I am M Agreste's personal secretary and the Head of Staff here at the mansion. If you do not mind me asking, M Lahiffe, what is the purpose of your visit?”

“Oh, uh, as you know it's my main dude--” she raised an eyebrow judgmentally at the informal speech. “--er, that is, Adrien's birthday today. I wanted to-to ask to M Agreste about maybe changing his mind about letting him have a party.”

“A useless endeavour, but very well. M Agrest is a very busy man, you will use the time you have been allotted to speak succinctly and _politely_ to him, and when your request is denied you will leave obediently. Am I clear?” Nathalie instructed.

“Um... yes?” Nino guessed.

“Good. Step lively now, don't waste more precious time than you're worth.” Nathalie turned sharply on her heal and lead the way back up to the foyer. Once inside, she noticed Nino looking around, taking in the intricate pattern on the floor, the tall white columns, the split staircase, and the portrait of Gabriel and his son hanging on the wall opposite the main doors. She stopped before the stairwell, standing at attention, and the boy followed suit. “He'll be here in a minute.”

Nino fidgeted with his bubble tube, until Gabriel stepped out in all his glory. “Adrien is not home yet,” he pointed out.

“Ah, I'm actually here to see you, dude-er Monsieur,” Nino informed.

“Me?” Gabriel prompted, eyebrow raising critically.

“Yeah, that's right!” Nino said, shooting off finger guns at the man. “Listen, I know you don't want Adrien to party, but it's his birthday, dude! Uh, I mean, Monsieur! That's all he wants.”

However, Gabriel didn't even consider this, just looking more angry. “No. Drop that subject,” he ordered immediately.

It flashed in his mind's eye a moment, that sunshine smile of his friend, the excitement in him at the idea of getting to spend time with friends. The email sent off without prompting to help him get in contact with a real life director so his dreams could come true. The promise Nino made himself to look after his friend and ensure his happiness as repayment for the kindness Adrien offered so freely.

“But that's not fair! He's such a great student and does everything you want! Like being a front page model, fencing, Chinese, piano--”

A gentle hand fell on his shoulder, cutting him off. He turned to see Adrien standing there, looking at him. “Nino! So, you came anyway?” He looked so moved at Nino's presence in his foyer, but there was also a dread and a resignation buried in those green orbs that put Nino a bit on edge.

“Always there for my best bro!” Nino assured. He then turned his attention back to Gabriel. “Here, be cool, dude! Uh, I mean, Monsieur. Please?”

However, Gabriel just glared harder, and Nino felt Adrien flinch through the hand on his shoulder. “Forget it, Nino... Really, it's okay...” he tried to reasure, his face resigned and his eyes dull save for the underlying spark of fear. A furrow of concern formed on Nino's brow as he registered this. There was no sunshine here in these dark halls, and it left his friend looking like little more than a husk of his usual self.

However, before Nino's mind could fully catch up to what he was seeing, Gabriel spoke once more. “Listen closely young man. I am the one who decides what is best for my son. And I have decided that you are a bad influence on him. You are not welcome here anymore. Adrien, you are not to spend time with this boy further. Now, get out of my house!”

“Père! Nino was just trying to do something for me!” Adrien practically begged. However, Gabriel just turned and walked away like his son wasn't in the middle of speaking. 

Nathalie stepped in front of their view of the man, expression cold and business like, looking down at Nino and giving a single brisk, “Farewell.”

Nino fumed. How could they treat his kind, gentle friend like this? How could they look at that defeated, dejected expression on his usually smiling face and not see something was seriously wrong with this situation?! How could his friend even live like this!? “Yeah, right, 'farewell'!” Nino sneered as he stomped out of the building.

“Nino! Wait!” Adrien's pleading voice called as he ran out after him. “I'm so sorry. Père is... a frustrating person. It's best to just do what he says...”

“But it's not fair, Adrien! That sucks! Not cool!” Nino yelled, trying to knock some sense into his friend.

He wasn't sure if the quiet “Thanks anyway...” he heard as he stormed down the front steps was real or not, but right then he was too infuriated to care. 

One metro ride later and he was still stewing. He sat on a bench in the park because he didn't know what else to do. He didn't want to go home, because he still had Chris's bubbles that he'd confiscated when he had been forced to babysit him last night. Chris had been a brat, purposefully not listening and getting into all of the things Nino told him not to, but he knew as soon as he got home his mom would take Chris's side and make him give it back. Chris never had to face any consequences because he was the baby, but Nino always had to take the extra blame for everything he did wrong. 

And then there was everything wrong with Adrien's situation. Not even being allowed to have a party on his birthday because his father knows better? Not being willing to listen to his son's own friend trying to explain to him how all his son wanted was to spend a few hours with his friends this one day of the year. That nervous fear in Adrien's otherwise dead eyes, so unlike the emotions he showed in school. And with a sudden sickening clarity, Nino realized that that wasn't even the all of it. 

Adrien had only ever had Chloé to call a friend. At first he had thought that strange, who could consider Chloé of all people a friend? But he genuinely seemed to like her and she seemed interested in more than friendship from him. But of course someone like her would want the kind of boy that would just roll over and let the other person walk all over them, that was exactly how she treated her 'friend' Sabrina as well! That was the reason she was always on his arm, leading him around like some prize to show off. And further...

With cold sweaty palms, Nino fished out his phone from his pocket and pulled up his email from the weekend before. An attached document he had noticed at the time was strangely mechanical in how it was worded, but he had assumed that was just how his friend always wrote. Only it didn't really match the way he wrote his emails. Or the texts he would send. Oh, they were always full sentences with proper grammar and punctuation, which Nino found kinda strange, with no slang or emojis, but they had always held just that little bit of light that the class was quickly beginning to associate with the Sunshine Child. But that essay, now that he was looking for it, read more like a soulless robot, more like that dead-eyed resignation he'd seen in that house. And looking over it again, he noticed there wasn't even a single 'I want' or 'I wish' statement in the whole thing.

On the one hand, that could just be confidence at his own capabilities talking. On the other hand Nino knew for a fact that his celebrity friend was humble about himself and his connections. How much more likely was it that the lack of 'I want' or 'I wish' was actually a silent plea to clue the world in to the fact that he didn't want or wish that at all? And those lines in it about his future love life, when he would date and for how long... when he had told Nino himself that very morning that he had a girl he liked... Nino felt suddenly kind of sick, he put his phone away so he wouldn't have to stare at the evidence of it. He played with the bubbles instead to have something to distract himself with as he tried to think this through. 

Surely he was mistaken, right? What sort of adults did Adrien have in his life to let things like this slide if Nino wasn't? He was interrupted by the sound of a little boy's cries. “Papa, please!!”

A little boy was fighting his father, who was dragging him away from the park. “No! You don't have time to play, you have homework to do!”

And that was just another thing to add to the pile. Adrien wasn't the only kid in Paris who's father was being unreasonable today and not letting their kid just have fun and be a kid! And all Adrien ever wanted was friends! But that old man has him working until he breaks, then denying him even a chance at a birthday party in exchange! “Adults always ruin the lives of their kids!” he declared in frustration. Somewhere inside he knew logically that it wasn't right, but right now his feelings were beyond reason.

~*~

“Wanting to help your friend through any means, yet your efforts being wasted. It's so frustrating. It doesn't take much for this frustration to turn into anger. Fly, little akuma, and blacken his heart!” Le Papillon monologued.

The little black butterfly fluttered from the window, guided by the will of Papillon towards his desired champion of darkness. Threads of negativity filled the city, acting to draw the insect closer, but the magic impulse commanded it to fly forwards until it reached it's target and could finally merge.

“I am Papillon. You are now my Bulleur. I'll help you take care of your adult problem. All you have to do is help me take care of a little problem of my own in return,” Papillon promised.

“Okay, Papillon,” the target agreed, and was taken by the darkness.

~*~

Georges parked the car around the corner and got out to walk the rest of the way. Since last week, Adrien had been raving about how wonderful the treats from Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie were every time they passed it. So, to surprise the boy, Georges had told the family chef not to bother with a cake this year and had instead ordered one from the bakery. 

Combined with the prototype Chat Noir and Ladybug action figures he had bought, this was costing nearly three months of his salary, but it wasn't like he had anything else to spend it on. He had caught Adrien enough times between activities watching and re-watching the Heroes of Paris videos on his phone since their debut to know he was a fan, so Georges hoped this would make him happy. A rare smile graced his face as he imagined the boy's expression upon unwrapping his gift.

Suddenly, the streets erupted in screaming and Georges turned just in time to be swept up by a flurry of bubbles. Though he pounded and kicked at the sides, he could not break free. This was obviously the work of another of those akuma-things. All he could do was hope his charge was safe.

~*~

Marinette sat at the dining table, her early supper hardly touched before her as she arranged her peas into a heart. “Adrien must have received my present by now...”

“What did you say?” her mother asked, opening a window for some fresh air.

Marinette jumped, realizing that she had been talking aloud. “Oh! I, er, um, I-I was just, um that is, I was saying--”

Sabine smiled at her daughter with amusement, clearly she had caught the girl talking to herself, but before she could hear what excuse her daughter would come up with, she found herself engulfed in a green bubble and began floating out the window.

“Maman!” Marinette cried, running to the window to try and catch her, only to see Tom floating upwards as well. “Maman! Papa!”

Tikki came out of hiding, “Your parents! Papillon must have unleashed another akuma!”

“I have to find the new supervillain pronto! Tikki! Transform moi!” Marinette cried, and a flash of light later Ladybug was hurrying down the steps of her home to the kitchens. Supervillain or not, some things had just been ingrained into the baker's daughter, one of which is to never be the last one to leave the building with the ovens on. After making sure they wouldn't start a fire that would burn down the block, Ladybug hurried outside to find the akuma's face projected within the bubbles that hadn't captured anyone yet.

“And now, let's start this party!” the akuma was saying. “It's your lucky day, dudes! All the adults have taken the day off, _enjoy_! No more homework or chores! Just fun, fun, _fun!_ A present from me, the Bulleur!”

Ladybug noticed an older, dark skinned boy who looked to be in his mid teens trying to comfort a pair of crying children. She moved over to them, knelt down, and said, “Don't worry, I'll bring back your parents soon!” she then turned to the older boy. “Call all your friends and classmates, everyone you know, get them searching for little ones. Those too young to take care of themselves. Get them somewhere central, like that collège over there, where everyone can work together to take care of them. We can worry about getting them back to their families later, but right now it seems it's up to the older kids to take care of the little ones. Please hurry and encourage everyone to pass the message on!”

“You got it Ladybug!” the teen assured, already digging out his phone to follow orders. 

The little girl who was crying wiped at her eyes, “You can count on me, too, Ladybug!” she insisted. She helped her maman babysit on weekends, she was good at helping with babies. 

Not to be out done, the little boy pulled out his phone, “I'll call all my friends, too!”

Ladybug spared them a grin. “I'm glad you have my back. Now, I have a bad guy to go beat!” With that, she swung away towards where all the bubbles were drifting from.

~*~

Adrien set his silverware down beside his newly cleared plate. He sighed as it echoed through the empty, cavernous room. Wiping his mouth clean on his napkin, he sneered out sarcastically, “Wow. That was a memorable birthday dinner. Yay.” He sighed in dejection. The only presents he got this year were a little bottle of cologne from a girl in a different class, and whatever it was that Chloé had ended up buying him after she was reminded of the date. Even his chef hadn't remembered to make him a cake.

He was walking back towards his room when he noticed the house was oddly quiet. After the incident with Nino earlier today, he was expecting at least a reminder that he was to get right on to his piano lessons now. “Nathalie?” he called into the empty foyer. He listened, but not even the clicking of heels answered him. “Père?” he tried again, expecting even less of an answer but figured it might be worth a shot. He listened a moment at the door to the atelier, then cracked it open an inch to peer in. Nothing. No sign of either of them, and no Gorille watching the front door. What was going on?

He was about to head up to his room to work on his piano like he was supposed to until his mother called—he wanted to play a piece for her and had been practising all month to make sure he could do it—when he thought he heard a commotion from outside. It was odd that there should be anyone moving or talking out there right now, the gardener was supposed to be done their daily work by noon. So the curious newly-thirteen-year-old stuck his head out the door to see what was going on.

At the bottom of the steps, a mass of kids stood. He recognized several from his class, though only Alya, Chloé, and Sabrina that he'd spoken to. They all let out a cheer upon seeing him and called “Happy birthday!” Was... was _this_ Chloé's present for him? He didn't know anyone else that would care enough and have the influence to get his father to turn a blind eye to such a thing after he specifically said 'no parties'.

“Hey, yo! Today's your special day, dude! Guess what? Your Père isn't here! If the cat's not around, the mouse is king!” an akuma floating above everyone on a bubble called down.

With a cold dread, Adrien realized who this akuma was. “Nino?!” Had being his friend hurt the boy that badly that he would end up akumatized for it?

“I, Bulleur, have personally gathered all your friends for your birthday to do one thing: _party_!” the akuma insisted.

Adrien scanned the crowd again as it cheered. Almost the whole class was there, as were the girls who would join them at lunch from the other class, and the boys like Jean Duparc who had started following the girls. But... for some reason his heart sank a little when he realized there was no Marinette. Did that mean she really didn't see him as a friend and turned down the invitation?

The Bulleur jumped down to the DJ booth and cried, “Let the party begin!” before cranking the music to the cheers of the teens who quickly began dancing. 

Very confused, a slack-mouthed Adrien inched his way back into his house and ran for the cover of his room. He looked at the ring on his finger, he had to transform, had to beat the villain, everyone was relying on him. But could he really attack his new best friend? After driving him to akumatization in the first place? Was he even still qualified to call him a best friend?

“What's the matter? This is the party you've been longing for all along,” the little devil on his shoulder called Plagg spoke up.

“But Nino turned into an akuma. I have to save him,” Adrien argued.

“There's no better chance then this. Let's go! Have some fun when your père's not around,” ze encouraged. “Then we can save Nino and capture the akuma later and everything will be alright!”

Adrien was torn, unsure of what to do, but part of him really wanted Plagg to be right. He wanted to have fun and play with his friends, who had all jumped at the chance to come see him. And while he definitely had a duty to Paris, perhaps just this once it would be okay to put himself first? After all, it wasn't like the akuma was hurting anyone, right? It was just throwing him a party, and he would be there keeping an eye on things, and they could fix everything after the party was done and everything would be fine, right? “I... guess you're right. This is probably the only chance I've got to really do whatever I want!”

~*~

Ladybug ran across the roofs of the city, looking for some sign of the akuma. The bubble trail had long since vanished, but the only movement she saw was of civilian teens doing as she asked and stepping up to get the babies and toddlers of the city moved somewhere they would be easier to take care of.

She was proud of the youth of her city for stepping up and were helping those in need when the adults were stolen. It helped her to know that she could rely on them to be responsible and keep the suffering to a minimum. Her search was pulled short as a place in the distance started spewing fireworks. At first she was going to be angry about some idiots off celebrating and partying during a crisis, but then on closer inspection she noticed the fireworks give way to bubbles as they dissipated.

“It's between you and me now, Bulleur!” she announced before taking off in the new direction.

~*~

Alya sneaked back into the party after nosing around inside the mansion a little to find the present Marinette had left for Adrien. Admittedly, she had initially been nosing around trying to find a bathroom, but she had been opening doors and found the present, and sure enough there was no signature on it. Alya was half tempted to scribble one herself, but figured it would be better if it were Marinette who did so. The girl needed the practice on building her confidence, after all.

Alya slid up to where Juleka was dancing with some older cute boy that had a similar frosted tips look, only in teal instead of purple. She wondered for a brief moment if he were perhaps Juleka's boyfriend, given their similar taste in style and his obvious protectiveness over the young goth. Brushing the question aside for the moment as unimportant, she got back on topic. “Hey, have you seen Marinette?”

Juleka just looked confused at this and shook her head, but they were overheard by Paige Segal who had been dancing near by while eyeing the older teen appreciatively. “Inviting Marinette Dupain-Cheng to a party? Now that would make this the worst party in existence.”

Alya glared at her for this, she knew this girl only hung out with them at lunch because that's where Adrien was, and so decided to use that against her. “You better not let Adrien hear you say that, he really likes Marinette!”

“Yeah, I've been wondering what's with that?” Alix suddenly interjected herself in the conversation. 

Alya shrugged, “Honestly, I think it has something to do with that gum incident. Like, the fact there was a misunderstanding and her declaring she disliked him made him determined to win her friendship or something...”

Alix thought about this for a minute before nodding, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. He does sort of give off that 'I just want everyone to get along' vibe. He even talked Chloé down.”

“Not to mention she's really nice and helpful,” Alya added. “It's not really a surprise that once he started getting to know her, Adrien wanted to be her friend.”

Paige was the one that spoke up at this. “Look, I get that you're new and everything, but I've been in and out of classes with Marinette Dupain-Cheng since kindergarten. While she may be sweet and kind and all that, she is not someone you want to go making friends with. She's a disaster, and staying close to her will ruin your life.”

“She's right,” Alix nodded. “Remember she ruined Adrien's shirt? We've all had multiple things destroyed by her, and we were even keeping our distance. Letting her into your life will just make it worse.” 

Juleka mumbled something to the affirmative, but none of them could clearly make it out.

“Look, I know she's a little on the clumsy side...” Alya tried to argue.

Suddenly the teal haired older teen reached into the middle of them and pulled Juleka away, warning as he left, “Start dancing, that akuma has noticed you!” And so all the girls hurried to do as he instructed.

Not all that far away, Adrien danced. Even as an akuma, Nino was amazing at this, he mixed his music in a way that you just had to move for. It was still a little lonely that he couldn't look up and see Nino's smiling face behind the DJ stand, that his friend wouldn't remember this, that Marinette hadn't even bothered to show her face.

Wanting to distract himself from such negative thoughts, (it was his birthday, after all,) he turned to a girl from his class that he hadn't yet really talked to, but who seemed really sweet from what he had heard during their daily complimenting sessions. “Hey, awesome party!” he said, trying to strike up a conversation. “Well, I suppose. After all, it's my first one, and um...” he trailed off nervously, embarrassed by his own ramble.

She forced a giggle, and a smile, giving him a double thumbs-up, before turning away and letting her face drop to a miserable look. Adrien hesitated, had he done something wrong? Was he perhaps being a bad host and had offended her somehow? He automatically started scanning the crowd for Chloé. She could tell him if he had made any social blunders and how to fix them without embarrassing anyone further. She was just wonderful like that, coming up with all their secret cues. But as he looked for her, he saw instead more and more unhappy people. This wasn't good, he really needed her to tell him how he was supposed to act...

But Chloé was currently plotting with Sabrina. She knew she wasn't his type, and she knew he liked someone else, but that didn't mean she had to just roll over and give up completely. If she made herself the most viable second option, then when he was done with his current crush, he could still come back to her. And in the meantime, stating her claim on him would dissuade his gaggle of fanbrats into keeping their grubby little paws to themselves. Really, the audacity of that Caquet girl, trying to make a move on Adrien when she wasn't around to protect him was utterly ridiculous!

Chloé waved at Sabrina to get on with it, and the redhead nervously approached the DJ table to speak to the akuma. “Do you have any slow dance songs?”

Bulleur leaned down to speak to Sabrina, a somewhat mocking grin on his face. “Isn't it a bit too early in the program for that?”

Sabrina froze nervously, so Chloé shoved her way into the conversation. “It's for Adrien. You know, his first ever slow dance...” she hinted, batting her eyelashes and putting as much suggestion into her voice as she could.

The akuma caught on quickly to what she was suggesting. “Whoooo! In that case, okaaay~!”

Chloé grinned smugly as Bulleur dug out a slow dance from his stack of records and started it up. She made a beeline to Adrien as the party goers began pairing off obediently. She wanted to get to him before some other girl made a move, and noticed him looking around at all the faces of everyone, searching for some direction. Her face turned hard, angry at who ever had said something to ruin his first real birthday party. His eyes finally found hers and he instinctively mirrored her stance and expression, hands on hips and everything. 

“Is it just me, or is everyone making a weird face?” he inquired suspiciously.

Realizing the source of his unease, Chloé waved it off and grabbed his hand instead. “Don't pay attention to them! Let's dance! Enjoy~” she insisted. Really, she knew they were all technically being held hostage here, but would it really kill these people to pretend they were enjoying themselves? Seriously, it was Adrien's birthday and they were at his party, at least they could look like they were happy to be here for him. Especially seeing as nearly half of them were his classmates and a third of them were his fans.

Chloé pulled him to the centre of the dance floor, wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder. His hands readily enough came to her hips, but his nervousness did not dissipate. Not only was he hyper aware of the potential for rumours but she hadn't given him a viable reason for why everyone seemed so... miserable to be here. He was growing more sure by the second that he wasn't misreading the mood, but he still didn't know what the cause could be. Were they really that upset that their friend was akumatized, even though he seemed to be having a great time himself?

Ladybug landed on the roof above the party and looked down to see what the akuma was doing here. There wasn't any fight going on, and Ladybug wondered where her partner was. Could he perhaps be old enough that he was taken away with all the other adults? Or was he just working to save kids elsewhere in the city and hadn't seen the fireworks? Or maybe he had just been further away and not managed to make it here yet.

She eyed the party going on, here at Adrien's house on his birthday made it clear what this party was supposed to be, and she felt somewhat guilty that she had to ruin it for him. But a party hosted by an akuma must be horrible to begin with, so surely it was ruined from the get-go. She tried not to feel slighted that she wasn't invited, until she spotted two blonds that made her heart race for very different reasons dancing together. When that bully Chloé tried to use the atmosphere of the dance to get Adrien to kiss her, Ladybug saw red. 

“Ugh! There's no way I'd allow that!” she insisted. “Lucky Charm!” she called, receiving a record disk. It was clear from the DJ station what the purpose was, but how to get it on the player so the music could change without giving herself away to the akuma and putting everyone in danger? If she threw it and sent it to ricochet off the wall...

The music changed and everyone pulled apart to dance to the new music, Adrien peeling Chloé off himself as well. Bulleur noticed the change in tunes and became cross, looking around and demanding “Hey! Who dared to change my song?!”

Ladybug was about to announce herself so they could get the fight underway when her earrings suddenly gave their last warning beep. Shocked and confused that she had so little time, Ladybug instead jumped over the wall and landed out on the street just as her transformation let off. She caught Tikki in her hands who's tired voice was scolding. “Marinette...”

“I-it was an emergency!” Marinette tried to insist.

“Sure it was. Because you were blinded by jealousy,” Tikki continued to scold. “If you use your magic for selfish purposes there will be horrible side effects! It puts the universe out of balance, and can result in power addictions where you just try and use your power to get everything you want, regardless of who you hurt.”

“'Regardless of who I hurt'? You mean like Papillon?” Marinette asked.

Tikki nodded, “It is quite likely. If not that he was always insane in some way. Magic may seem a wonderful thing that can solve any problem, but it does come with costs. If used responsibly, it will be your greatest tool, but don't ever forget it's a double-edged sword.”

A cold dread surged through Marinette, she didn't want to end up like Papillon, a person willing to hurt innocents that had never harmed him just to gain what he wanted. “Bu-but I thought... Bulleur doesn't seem to be going anywhere! There'll be time to eat and replenish your energy. And I saved Adrien from having a kiss forced on him. You should have seen it, Tikki, he was pulling away but she kept trying to kiss him anyway, I had to save him! But, after recharging we can focus on beating the Bulleur, I promise!”

Around the corner, the front gates to the Agreste mansion stood wide open. The music was pumping and everyone was dancing to the new, more exciting beat. Marinette slipped in easily unnoticed, just another young teen face in the swarm of them, and quickly made her way over to the snack table where several plates were set out with junk food on them, including a few different types of cookies. Marinette quickly shoved several cookies into her purse so Tikki would have plenty to eat and recharge quickly.

“I have to find a safe place to transform again, quickly,” Marinette said, thinking out loud as everyone ignored her in order to dance. Her eyes of their own accord shifted to the crowd of party-goers, landing on Adrien as though drawn by a magnet. He was still dancing with Chloé, though further apart and apparently more comfortable. Her heart tightened at the sight of them smiling at each other so familiarly, hurt and jealous that it couldn't have been her.

“Where were you, Marinette? I was worried something had happened to you!” Alya expressed, having come up behind the blunette without her notice. Marinette floundered for a moment for an answer, but set it aside as Alya enveloped her in a hug.

“Me too,” Marinette admitted, returning her friend's embrace.

When they pulled away, Alya put her hands comfortingly on Marinette's shoulders. She knew from experience how terrified of akuma Marinette was. “I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to show up and save us any minute now. We can count on them,” she reassured. “In the meantime, follow me, I have something for you.”

“U-um, but... I have something to do...” Marinette tried to excuse herself.

“Oh, come on! It involves Adrien~!” Alya coaxed, and Marinette realized she couldn't believably slip away from her persistent friend without a good reason. Or maybe she just really wanted to know what Alya's Adrien-related secret was.

“Okay,” Marinette gave in with a sigh.

“Marinette! What about Bulleur!” Tikki hissed, hir voice barely audible over the back-beat playing for the dancers.

“I know, just give me a moment! I have to get Alya off my tail first,” Marinette insisted.

She followed Alya into the mansion and over to a side door. Upon opening it, Alya pointed Marinette to the present on the table. “Look! You can sign your present!”

Marinette grinned at the chance to correct her mistake. “Cool!” She hurried over to the table and searched the drawers until she found an ink pen and a stack of sticky notes. “To Adrien, with love, Marinette... voila!” she read aloud as she wrote, even adding on a little picture of a birthday cake. She triumphantly put the sticky note on the present before lifting the package and kissing it.

“Perfect. Let's transform, Marinette!” Tikki urged from her purse. 

“But I can't! Alya is right next to us!” Marinette hissed back.

“Did you say something?” Alya asked, sticking her head in through the door again.

Marinette jumped, casting her eyes around the room for an excuse. They landed on the large yellow abstract painting of a strikingly beautiful woman on the far end of the room. “I was just wondering... if... you knew who the woman in the painting was?”

Alya looked as well. “No, but she does bare a striking resemblance to Adrien. I'd guess she's his manman or something.”

“Oh! Er, heheh, right. Of course,” Marinette giggled nervously. But they were interrupted by a yell and turned to the large windows to see Ivan floating skywards in a green bubble. What had happened? Oh, this was all her fault, she shouldn't have stalled or gotten distracted by Adrien!

“The akuma's attacking!” Alya exclaimed, sounding far too excited as she pulled out her phone and ran for the door.

“Oh, I never should have waited so long!” Marinette berated herself. 

~*~

Ivan stood apart from the rest of the party-goers. He watched his precious Mylène dance with his friend Juleka and her older brother Luka, the girls too scared to disobey and Luka too loyal to leave his sister's side even though he didn't have to be here at all. But Ivan couldn't bring himself to abide by it. He knew Nino, they shared a mutual friend who wasn't in their class this year, a boy by the name of Jérémy Ramage, who was a huge music enthusiast of every genre and ensured they all hung out. This act here was not the laid-back Nino's style, this was the act of a bully, and Ivan had never been one to take bullying lying down.

So when the akuma walked up to him and demanded, “Hey, you! Why aren't you having fun?” without even acknowledging their relationship with each other, Ivan wasn't having any of it.

“That's not your problem!” Ivan talked back.

“Okaaay~, but it'll become _your_ problem...” Bulleur insisted, pulling out his hoop. Ivan didn't want to, but he flinched in fear of it. A sweep of his hoop later and the party-pooper was gone, floating up to be out of everyone's lives like all the horrible adults. 

His cries drew everyone's attention, causing the other party-goers to cower before the akuma. Mylène called out for her beloved, reaching towards him, but Juleka pulled her back and into a hug, trying to comfort her tears before she upset the Bulleur with them.

“So sorry for that little interruption,” the Bulleur said walking towards the other teens. “But now that that stick in the mud is out of the way, everyone can go back to having fun forever! And we can all give my best bud the best birthday party ever...” Though his words were kind, the inflection of his voice was threatening. And suddenly Adrien was very sure something here was very, very wrong. “Oh, I know, how about a speech from the birthday boy?” Bulleur suggested, motioning for Adrien to come up to the stage beside him.

Once there, the blond had a microphone pressed into his hands expectantly. He turned to the small crowd and saw their faces, and with sickening clarity it all clicked. He had found it a little strange that so many people were here for his party, given the fact he hadn't even talked to most his classmates yet. He had convinced himself they were just supportive people, or maybe some of them just liked to party. It had hurt Marinette wouldn't be here. But now he worried that she had tried to refuse and was now floating high above them. 

He was supposed to be a hero, and yet here he was letting her and everyone else suffer for his own amusement. But Adrien wasn't anything if not well-programmed to smile on command and say and do things he didn't mean just because it was what was expected of him. So he put on his best PR smile and amped up the hype. “Hey Paris, how are you doing?”

A few faces looked betrayed, others looked dumbfounded, Chloé was watching him calculatingly, both realizing he had figured it out and regretting the superheroes hadn't shown up and taken care of everything before he had to, most people, though, just looked scared. Bulleur glared at them all, reaching for his hoop, and they all flinched back before forcing out a cheer. Adrien jumped down from the stage, looking to see if he couldn't sneak off and transform when a flash of something bright red caught the edge of his vision and he looked up. 

There, in all her glory, stood Ladybug. At his house. On his birthday. He knew her at once, the same face as always even though he had been trying all week to remember what she looked like, ever since he had gone to Chloé's after the last akuma battle. Plagg had said it was part of the Miraculous magic to protect their identities, but he had wanted so badly to remember her face and felt horrible when he couldn't. 

Ladybug threw her yo-yo, hitting the power bar and shutting off the music, and Adrien knew this was one party he should have been at ages ago. “It's a pity, but the party's over, Bulleur!” Ladybug quipped.

“Why are you so annoying?!” Bulleur demanded.

“You made the adults disappear, that's why! And on top of that, you made these unwilling kids party!” Ladybug stood up against him. Within the crowd, Chloé cuddled close to Adrien, seeking the mutual comfort of both of them, but he couldn't feel anything right this second but shame. Standing here looking at his Lady, with another girl hanging off of him, her doing what was right despite her fear and him just leaving her alone to deal with it all because he didn't want to raise his staff against one of his few friends.

He pushed Chloé off him, not roughly but definitively. He ran for his room, ignorant of her confused eyes following him, hardly hearing Bulleur's response to Ladybug, only knowing he should have done this close to half an hour ago when this whole mess began.

Bulleur swung his hoop at Ladybug, sending two red bubbles her way. She swung out her yo-yo, intercepting the bubbles and popping them before they got near. She continued swinging her yo-yo around, wanting to keep the momentum up, but as the string moved faster and faster, to her surprise it started glowing and became like a shield. She wasn't sure she knew why it functioned like that, but she just understood nothing physical would be able to get past that glowing disk.

Bulleur jumped at her, and Ladybug leapt to meet him half way. Below the teens scattered, some running for the gate or to hide behind tables, others dashing up the steps of the mansion to hide behind the banister. Alya, of course, was knelt with her phone out, recording what happened.

~*~

Adrien slipped into his room and shut the door behind him. “I was a real idiot on this one,” he admitted as Plagg flew over to him, still dancing to the beat that was no longer playing. “Plagg! Transform moi!”

When Chat Noir showed up on the scene, Ladybug and Bulleur were on opposite sides of the courtyard exchanging blows. She threw her yo-yo strait at Bulleur, who shot back a red bubble at exactly the angle where the yo-yo would pierce the bubble instead of strike it, but instead of actually piercing the bubble acted like rubber and bounced the yo-yo strait back at a surprised Ladybug's face.

Chat Noir jumped in and used the tip of his staff as a bat to hit the yo-yo off course and into the air before following it up with a downward strike that took out the approaching bubble, knocking it into the ground where it exploded. He finished off with a twirl of his staff and an fighting stance in front of his Lady, just to be impressive. “Looks like I came just in time!”

“I was doing fine. But thanks,” Ladybug responded, just as her yo-yo whacked him on top of the head before bouncing into her waiting hand.

A purple mask appeared over Bulleur's face and he heard Papillon's voice. “ _Bring me the Miraculous. I want their power._ Now!”

With a cry of fury, he swung his hoop at the heroes, letting off a flurry of small red bubbles. The heroes used their weapons to bat the incoming bubbles aside, careful to strike them away rather than try to pop them outright. Many bubbles outright missed them, floating too high above or too far to the side. When the wave of red almost passed, Bulleur let out one more swarm of bubbles that just floated in the air between them. The heroes came to a pause, Ladybug crouching low and Chat Noir hovering over her to keep her safe, when Bulleur smirked and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the bubbles all turned green and started whipping around the pair like they were caught in a tornado. Tiny green bubbles the size of a fist started catching on their bodies, sticking to them wherever they landed. Ladybug squawked and tried to block her face with her arms while Chat was trying to get the bubbles off himself. More and more little bubbles landed on them, combining together to make bigger bubbles with their neighbours. Chat Noir, in a last ditch effort to protect her, coiled himself down around Ladybug and then his feet were giving out from under him and his back hit something solid as he started sinking to the ground. To make sure he didn't drag her down with him, he let go of his Lady, only a moment later to realize they were floating together in a giant green bubble as she sank down opposite him.

Ladybug struck at the edge of the bubble with a strength-enhanced elbow strike, but the bubble just sort of bent a little before returning to it's shape as her elbow retracted from the blow. “Hand over your Miraculous before you run out of air!” Bulleur threatened.

“Dream on, Bulleur!” Ladybug snapped.

“You're a real pain in the neck! Just like adults,” Bulleur sighed, rubbing a hand over his slick plastic head. 

“Children _need_ adults!” Ladybug argued. 

“As if! Children want freedom! They want to live fun and comfortable lives, but the adults always get in their way!” Bulleur countered.

“But adults take care of their kids! They are the ones looking after them with love!” Ladybug continued to insist.

“Most of them, at least...” Chat grumbled to himself, thinking of his own father and Nathalie especially. “But, bring back the adults!”

“Nope! Never! Oh, and you know what? If you're that worried about the adults, why don't you float along with them?!” Bulleur said, before running over and kicking their bubble like an oversized football, sending them shooting up and out towards the Seine. 

“ _What are you doing, Bulleur?! You were_ supposed _to steal their Miraculous!_ ” Papillon scolded.

The heroes cleared the Eiffel Tower as they continued to try and pound their way out of the bubble to no avail. Suddenly Ladybug gasped, “Use your Cataclysm!” she instructed. 

“Couldn't you have suggested that when we weren't so high up?” Chat complained.

“You don't want to be trapped inside this bubble together forever, right?” Ladybug chided.

'Together forever' entered his ears and for a split second all that filled Chat Noir's mind was the idea of spending the rest of his life with her. He tried to give her a suggestive smile to say how that wasn't such a terrible fate, but she just groaned and put her head in her hand. Given that he seemed to have messed up somehow, Chat didn't push the subject and obediently called on his Cataclysm to remove the bubble. 

However, that still left them with the problem that they were now nearly twice the height of the Eiffel Tower and closing in on said monument and the ground quickly. “Care to show me if you can land on all fours this time?” Ladybug called over to him.

“No thanks!” was his only response.

“Throw your baton over there!” she ordered, pointing to the interlocking beams of the tower. Doing as he was told, Chat tossed his baton and got it jammed so it stuck out past the beams and gave Ladybug an anchoring point for her yo-yo. They swung down together, the string of her yo-yo giving them a pendulum motion that changed their momentum from downwards to sideways. 

They rolled to a stop coming to their feet and taking a moment to catch their breath. “Phew! Fortunately, cats don't have vertigo.” 

Ladybug went back over and tugged at the string of her yo-yo until it pulled the baton loose and both fell to her waiting hands. While she was doing this, Chat took a moment to just take in the sight of her, trying to memorize everything he could. _She stands at about my eye level,_ he thought very deliberately. _And Chloé was right, she does look at least partially Asian..._ Then aloud he mumbled, “Short black hair in pigtails, large sky blue eyes...”

“What was that?” she asked as she stepped back up to him. 

“Nothing, just checking something,” he shrugged off as he caught the baton she tossed his way.

“We have to take Bulleur's hoop! The akuma must be in there!” Ladybug insisted.

“What makes you say that? It was blue and yellow, not that akuma-purple,” Chat pointed out.

“Yeah, but it was the only part of him that wasn't attached,” she theorized.

Chat nodded at this reasoning. “Well, I'm already on the clock,” he said, showing her his ring that was missing pads. “If we go strait back, I'll be out of time when we get there. I think it's better if I go recharge my kwami first. I know it's out of the way, but I think we should go find a grocery store first.”

Ladybug sighed, but had to agree to that reasoning. Like it or not, Bulleur had proven himself more than she could handle on her own, and trying to enter the fight with less than a minute left for her partner was just begging for an accidental identity reveal. “But how will you pay for it?” she asked.

“I'll just come back as a civilian after and bring them the wrapper. I'll tell them I fed it to some kids or something,” Chat insisted.

“But grocery stores have cameras,” she pointed out.

“Right, so I'll go in as a civilian, grab the stuff, then meet you on a near-by roof once we're done. Unless...” he hesitated. “Unless you _want_ to know who I am...?” he offered.

“Chat!” Ladybug scolded, shocked he'd suggest such a thing.

His heart fell at how appalled she sounded at the idea of knowing him. But he forced a carefree smile, “Yeah, I figured it was probably still too early...” Ladybug didn't reply, just cast her yo-yo in the direction of the closest grocery store. Chat followed silently at first, until something bright on the Seine caught his eye. “Is that... a _rainbow unicorn head_ on the front of that ship?!”

Ladybug cast a look back. “Yeah, whoever owns the boat added it a few years back. Haven't you ever seen it before?”

Chat shook his head. “I don't really have much reason to go to the Seine that often.”

“Oh,” she replied, supposing that meant he probably lived somewhere on the outer edges of the city, away from the river that cut through the middle of it. They landed on a roof a block down from the store, and while Chat slipped into the alleyway to detransform, Ladybug made sure she was sitting so her back was to the store as she waited.

Adrien hurried to the grocery store at a half-jog. “You'll have to be satisfied with whatever cheese they have,” he told Plagg as he carried the kwami to get food.

“This is why you should always carry some Camembert on you...” Plagg grumbled. “See, if you had accepted my gift for you this morning, we wouldn't be in this mess.”

“I was at home!” Adrien argued. 

“And then there was an emergency, and now we're stuck in this situation,” ze countered. “It's just being prepared.”

“Ugh, fine! What do you want?” Adrien prompted, having finally found the cheese section. After Plagg reluctantly decided ze could settle for some Gouda, Adrien grabbed a wheel and they headed back out to the alleyway again. As he waited for Plagg to finish eating, he tried to think back to his thoughts about Ladybug. He knew he had thought something about... her height? Was that right? She was... was... something. Wonderful. Breathtaking. But that wasn't on topic. He also distinctly remembered thinking Chloé was right about something. But, she had guessed a few things, what had she been right about again? He tried to think, tried to remember his Lady's features, what she could have said that was right. Maybe... that comment of short dark hair?

Because that he could remember clearly. He had said it aloud. Short black hair pulled into pigtails oh so cutely. The image began to solidify in his mind, how they hung just below her ears, how her bangs were pulled to one side. He also remembered saying that she had large, sky blue eyes, and he could somehow picture them, blinking up at him through long lashes, a faint blush painting over her freckled nose and cheeks, her mouth in a cute little 'oh' as she looked at him from under the umbrella he gave...

Oh.

_Oh._

So _that's_ why his heart had leapt extra strong when he met her there in school. Marinette Dupain-Cheng resembled Ladybug. He hadn't been able to notice it consciously at first, but somewhere inside him he must have realized how much they looked alike. It made sense now, his strange draw to her, he had been superimposing his Lady on to Marinette without realizing it. He felt a little guilty now, actually, that all these weeks and he hadn't been liking Marinette for herself at all. But he guessed in a way it couldn't be helped, his love for Ladybug was just so all-consuming. She was his soulmate, after all.

Once Plagg had finished eating, and demanded to be fed for real when they got home, he re-transformed and vaulted to the roof. He found Ladybug sitting cross-legged and fiddling with her yo-yo. “Milady,” he greeted with a deep sweeping bow. 

She looked up at him with her sky blue eyes and smiled slightly. “Hey, Chat. Apparently, my yo-yo has cellphone coverage!” she announced her discovery. She had initially just been fiddling with it to ensure she wasn't tempted to look around and accidentally see Chat's civilian self, she had been trying to see if she couldn't open the yo-yo up for the purifying power on command, but had instead found it open to a sort of main page covered with app icons. She had been checking it out and just realized not a minute ago that she could access a telephone function.

Chat eyed his staff contemplatively. “Really?” he'd have to see if he couldn't uncover any similar hidden functions during his next training session. He reached out a hand to help her to her feet, moving to kiss the back of it before letting go, but she saw what he was moving to do and pulled her hand free before he could.

“We should get back to the akuma,” Ladybug insisted, closing the phone function away and swinging off.

~*~

“Don't hide! Get out here and have fun!” Bulleur demanded of the cowering teens. But they were too scared, with no Ladybug to purify the akuma, who was going to save them?

“Sorry to be the little bugger!” Ladybug called down from where she and Chat Noir landed. The sight of them elicited cheers from the students. 

“Ladybug! Ladybug! Ladybug!” they chanted, the most faithful believers, such as Alya, Chloé, Max, and Sabrina, even left their shelter to stand and cheer her.

“No one wants to party with you anymore, Bulleur,” Ladybug pointed out. 

“What's your problem? Why are you guys against me?!” Bulleur demanded. The lack of support just infuriated the akuma, and with a swipe of his hoop, everyone was floating off in green bubbles.

“No!” Ladybug and Chat Noir both cried as the civilians they failed to protect floated higher into the air.

“Your precious cheerleaders are headed for outer space, you'll never see them again!” Bulleur claimed, leaping to the roof of the mansion to confront the pair of heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir leapt into action, coming at him from both sides in a pincer move. He swung his hoop and let loose some red bubbles that forced Ladybug to dodge. As they exploded on impact with the roof, Bulleur turned and met Chat Noir hoop-to-staff as though they both wielded swords. 

“Come on, dude, snap out of it. You don't want to do this!” Chat Noir pleaded, but Bulleur just sidestepped to avoid Ladybug coming up behind him. The heroes came to stand together, so Bulleur shot a red bubble right between them. They jumped apart as it hit the roof and exploded debris at them. 

Deciding this had gone on long enough, Ladybug threw her yo-yo up and called, “Lucky Charm!” getting a wrench falling in her hands instead. 

“Huh. I hope your technical crew skills are going to help us!” Chat said over his shoulder as he re-engaged the akuma to prevent him from attacking while Ladybug planned. A number of red bubble shots had Chat Noir bouncing all over the roof. “Put more effort into it! Is this the best you can do?” he jeered.

Unbeknownst to the heroes, Papillon glared up at all the noise and destruction they were causing above him, worried that they would manage to break through and discover his hideout before he was ready to reveal himself. He contemplated a moment going down to the basement where his nursery was, but he figured if they burst through to his lair, he was still far more powerful and experienced than either of the children and with his akuma's help could probably manage to get at least one of their Miraculous. 

However, that did not come to pass as Ladybug noticed the huge ventilation system being used to keep the large mansion aerated. Using the wrench, she freed the intake hose which began flailing all over the place, blowing air. “Chat Noir! Your turn!” she instructed.

He jumped and grabbed the hose, calling a quick, “Got it! Go on!” and aimed the blowing air to deflect some incoming bubbles back at the akuma. Bulleur was forced to dodge, the hoop being more or less forgotten in a loose grip as he pulled back. Ladybug cast her yo-yo out and snatched the hoop away quickly. 

Pulling it too her, she snapped the hoop over her knee, letting the akuma free. “Come out, I have to take care of you. You're finished, little akuma! I free you from evil!” she caught the black butterfly and let it flutter free as a little white bug. One Miracle Cure later and the heroes were exchanging their fist bump. “Bien joué!” they chorused.

“Huh? H-hey, dude...” Nino nervously greeted as he looked around, the world filling with people again.

“I'll get him home, don't worry Milady,” Chat insisted, looking adoringly at the girl of his dreams. Then he noticed something. “...you have freckles!” he said, just so he would remember that fact later when he was no longer staring at her.

“What?” Ladybug asked, sounding deadpanned.

“Whaaaat? It looks like you have your own little galaxy of freckles across your face. It's cute...” Chat praised, being bold enough to reach up and bop her nose with one of his fingers.

She sputtered, a little flustered by his flirting, which brought a smug grin to the cat-boy's face. Then her earrings beeped at her and she insisted, “I have to go, bye!” and away she swung.

~*~

Adrien sat before his computer, arranging his two new figurines so they would stand where he could always see them. He was posing them so Ladybug was hugging Chat Noir around the waist, who stood with one arm around her and the other holding his staff over his shoulder, but couldn't quite get them to stay standing. His notifications popped up on Skype, telling him of an incoming request for a video conference. He at once hit the accept button.

The screen turned on to five faces smiling at him. The elder two were his grandparents, Lloyd and Sandra Graham de Vanily, his mother, Emilie, her new husband, James Otto Culpa, and lastly his own little twin brother, Félix. His smile split his face as they all chorused out a “ _Happy birthday, Adrien!_ ” in English.

“Thanks, and the same to you, Félix,” Adrien replied fluently in the same. 

“ _So, how's the day treated you, kiddo?_ ” James asked. He was one of those step-parents that wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with their spouse's children. One of those ones that ensures the child that they'll never take the place of the real parent, but wants to get on anyway. Félix, however, was all for just replacing Gabriel and calling him Dad.

“Pretty good, I ended up having some people over, though Père didn't want me to...” Adrien admitted. “And le Gorille bought me a cake from my friend's bakery—which has the most amazing pastries there, she brings them to class to share sometimes—and, um, he got me some prototype models of the new Heroes of Paris!”

“That's wonderful, dear,” Emilie insisted. “ _James, darling, why don't you go help Félix gather his presents here so he can show Adrien?_ ” The man nodded, leading the confused boy out of the room. “ _Speaking of the heroes, are you helping Gabriel?_ ” Emilie asked as soon as they cleared out.

Adrien blinked, not following what his mother was getting at. “Um, well, I was pulled out of classes this afternoon to do a photo shoot?” he tried. “But... um, what does that have to do with the superheroes?”

Emilie smiled at him, as did his grandparents, that smile that was meant to be reassuring to children. “ _You just do so much to make him happy, it's like you're a little hero in your own right_!” she praised.

Adrien blushed at that, adverting his eyes as he thought his mother's words were more accurate than she knew. “Though, speaking of Ladybug and Chat Noir, they came to my birthday party today! Well, sort of came? I mean, they weren't really there for me, but still, they were at the party!”

“ _Not there for you? Then who would they be there for at your birthday party?_ ” his grandmother asked.

“Well, um, see, Père wouldn't let me have a party, and one of my friends from school came and tried to talk him into it, but he said no and that we couldn't see each other anymore. And that got Nino mad, and so Papillon sent an akuma after him, and he got rid of all the adults and made everyone from collège come to my party. So, Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up and beat the akuma and brought everyone back, and yeah...” he trailed off lamely.

At their troubled looks, Adrien hurried to explain, “But, it was okay! No one ended up getting hurt, and I got to have a birthday party, and Ladybug and Chat Noir even showed up! They haven't been at anyone else's birthday, so that makes it special, right?” he tried to assure.

“ _You are a fan of them?_ ” his grandfather surmised.

Adrien readily nodded, “They are _so cool~!_ Ladybug especially. She has this magic cure spell that fixes anything and even brings people back to life if they die during the akuma attacks! And she's brave and smart and pretty and--”

“ _And who is this crush Adrien is talking about?_ ” James asked as he came back in. 

Adrien flushed crimson, “I-it's not a crush!” he tried to insist. The looks everyone gave him told him he'd failed his deception roll. 

“ _Well, if they're as wonderful as you say, the animation department is ready to start their next big project..._ ” Lloyd mused.

“Oh! If you want information on them, my friend Alya runs a blog on them! It's called the Ladyblog! The most complete source of information on them and Papillon on the whole internet! She's even got exclusive video footage of most of the akuma battles!” Adrien explained.

After an agreement to look into it, Félix took several minutes going over his various presents and both boys talked about how their new school year had been so far. That was when Nathalie came in unannounced. “Adrien, from your père,” she indicated, handing him over a blue box with a pink ribbon. He took it in surprise, having expected any present to have been presented earlier in the day. “I figured you'd like to open it while your mère could see,” she explained, reading his expression. 

She then turned an left, not even waiting to see his reaction to the gift proper. Gabriel had already approved of it, Adrien's feelings towards it were of no consequence. He opened the box gingerly, before marvelling at the fine weave and soft texture and trying it on. “How does it look?” he asked his family over the monitor.

“ _You look lovely, dear. The colour really suits you,_ ” his mother insisted, bringing a blush to his cheeks once more.

They spent another hour talking, him playing the song he had been practising so much for them, and just catching up on each other's lives. But eventually it was time for everyone to head to bed, Adrien still wearing his new scarf and Plagg snuggled into it under his chin.

~*~

Chloé had complimented him on the new scarf as soon as she had seen it that Sunday when they met to go pet cute animals. When told it was from his father, she had been a little surprised at first, but shrugged it off as him being a fashion mogul after all. It wasn't until she got a closer look at it that she exclaimed, “This was hand-made!” which took them both off guard.

“What?” Adrien asked.

“Look here, how the knots aren't quite even, that's not something a machine would do! It would take a while for the scarf to stretch out like that naturally, so that means someone hand-knit this whole thing!” she explained. Adrien was deeply touched. His father had actually taken the time to hand-knit his present for him? He hadn't expected that.

They got out of the white limousine when it pulled up in front of the pet shop and entered. Both teens made a beeline for the cute cuddly hamster cages at the back, reaching in the open top and running their fingers over the little critters. Pets were messy things covered in fur, so neither were allowed to have one, but they both loved soft cute things so much. “It's settled, when I move out, I'm getting a hamster. Maybe two,” Adrien declared, watching a little black and white one running on it's wheel.

“You've said that almost every time we've been here,” Chloé reminded, drifting away to the cage next to the hamsters where a sign indicated a new litter of bunnies were for sale. She reached in and pet them, cooing “Oh, they're so soft...”

Adrien moved over to join her, chin resting against her shoulder and chest to her back as he reached in through the hatch and pet them along side her. He was soon distracted, however, by a tiny paw batting at his sleeve. He turned and met the still-blue eyes of a fluffball of a pure black kitten. “Hey, there, Chaton Noir,” he cooed, sticking a finger through the cage bars to scratch the little kitten's cheek. 

The kitten flopped down on his finger for a moment, purring loudly, before it decided the better course of action was to turn and take the offered digit in its paws and start chewing on it. Adrien chuckled at this. He wondered for a moment if this couldn't be his future: a little black kitten to call his own, with his Lady's large sky blue eyes...

“Oh, no, if you're going to be naming anything after either of the heroes, it's Ladybug that deserves it, not that mangy alley cat who only makes situations worse!” Chloé argued loudly, hands on her hips.

“Oh? You like Ladybug?” he verified. It wasn't surprising, but he may as well confirm it.

“Of course! She's saved my life twice now, she's practically my own personal hero!” Chloé insisted.

Adrien grinned. Convincing her to give her blessing for his relationship would be a piece of cake. Now all he had to do was find her as a civilian so they could get together and Chloé could meet her to give said blessing. “I'll have to bring you over some time to see the new prototype models le Gorille got me, then. Oh, and grand-père said he'd be making a Ladybug and Chat Noir animated movie! It hasn't been announced yet, but I told them about the heroes showing up to save my birthday party, and he said he'd make them the subject of the next animated film!”

~*~

Monday morning came to find Chloé angrily chewing out Sabrina. “What do you _mean_ 'they can't deliver it this week'?!”

“There weren't any adults to deliver it Friday, and--” Sabrina tried to explain.

“Does it _look_ like I care about that?! This doesn't make any sense! It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” Chloé screeched before turning and storming off inside.

The group that had gathered on the steps to watch the scene started gossiping among themselves, Alya full out laughing at Chloé's expense. “Serves her right!” she cheered.

Marinette smiled a little at this, though she still felt bad that Adrien would have to wait for whatever present Chloé was getting him. That was when the familiar silver car pulled up. “Hey there, girls!” Adrien called to them as he climbed out, baby blue scarf draped around his neck.

“Eh? It's my scarf! He's wearing my scarf!” Marinette fangirled at Alya.

The Ladyblogger grinned. “That's a nice scarf, Sunshine! It looks great on you!” she called as he walked up.

“Yeah! I can't believe my dad did this for me!” he enthused, looking down at the accessory and running his fingers over it lovingly. Because of this, he didn't see the shocked, hurt confusion that passed over either girl's faces. “Isn't it awesome? He usually forgets about my birthday. The last three years, he just gave me a company pen...”

“That's... that's great! I mean the present, not forgetting the birthday thing! I-I mean the scarf present, not the pen presents! I mean not that p-pens aren't nice too! Useful! Very... very placable! I mean, practical!” Marinette babbled before getting too nervous and clamping her jaw like her mouth had been welded shut.

Adrien blinked as Alya just smiled and nodded along. Marinette was talking to him! He grinned brightly, maybe his life was looking up after all! “Thanks, Marinette.” He turned and started up the steps again, his face falling as he caught sight of Nino waiting for him. Giving a large sigh and keeping his eyes downcast, he approached while holding his bag strap with both hands. “Um, Nino...? The... the truth is... um... Père said you're a bad influence, and-and I'm not allowed to be around you anymore, or else-or else I can't come to collège...” he admitted sadly. “So... so for the time being, until he forgets about it, could you... could you not talk to me in public...?”

Nino felt like he had just been slapped in the face. Not talk to his new best friend for a while, or he couldn't come back to school?! Adding to everything else he knew about Gabriel Agreste, it was starting to paint a picture he really, really didn't like. “Oh... uh, y-yeah, sure dude...” he agreed, feeling a little sick.

“Thanks, I... it'll only be for a while, and we can still talk in class and stuff... but um...” he glanced over his shoulder at the silver car that still sat there, and the cold blue eyes of his father's secretary. “No where it could get back to Père.”

Nino followed the look and nodded. “Right, I've got your back, dude. I'll see you in class.”

The girls watched the scene as Adrien passed Nino and up to the school proper, concern colouring their gazes. Inside, Chloé could be heard making a fuss over the model. “Why didn't you tell him you made the scarf?” Alya questioned.

“But he looked so happy to have received a gift from his Père... I don't want to ruin this for him,” Marinette insisted.

Alya leaned forward and encircled the blunette in a hug. “Oh, Marinette! You're amazing, girl, you know? One day, I'm sure Adrien will acknowledge your efforts. I guarantee!” Then with an arm around Marinette's shoulders, Alya walked them up to Nino. “Come on, _dude_ , you can come hang with me. You hang with me, I hang with Marinette, and she hangs with our Sunshine Child! All done, problem solved, and no one has to question why you're together that way! And you can even give me an interview for my blog about your akumatization...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why he brushed his teeth before going for breakfast, but that was the order they did it in the show. And also, despite the fact Marinette specifically stated this was Friday, they were at school the next day? I don't think France is like Japan and has 6 day school weeks. There are a lot of little details like that in these shows that really don't make sense. Hopefully I clear them up the best I can.
> 
> I feel bad for where I left Nino and Adrien's relationship, but with a father like Gabriel, if he said "You can't see them anymore" there would be some follow-through. The show tried to address it at the end of the episode, but waved it off like "we don't have to listen to your father..." which I thought was not the way to handle it.
> 
> I hope I got the link right, if the picture won't show up for you, let me know and I'll try to look into it. It worked for me in the preview screen though.
> 
> The naming of Felix's step-father was interesting. It seems the fandom has decided PV!Felix's last name was Culpa, so I gave him that last name. As for choosing the first name, Otto James Messmer was the original artist responsible for Felix the Cat. So, Felix the Chat Noir being Felix Culpa ended up as James Otto Culpa because Alya's father is already named Otis who, you know, becomes a giant black cat...
> 
> As for the Couffaine residence and the Luka cameo... A ship as unique as their family home would be eye-catching with how colourful it is and would draw attention from those who don't know it. And Luka doesn't seem the sort that would abandon his little sister when a big scary akuma comes for her and demands she follows him or else. The other students know him, but he is in lycee already and has gone through an image change so they don't recognize him. Only Ivan and Rose who are Juleka's friends know it was him.
> 
> And of course, Emilie knows who Papillon is, but not Chat Noir or Ladybug. And I couldn't help myself but to add in that almost-reveal about Ladybug's identity for Adrien. Please don't hate me, I found it too amusing to leave out. Also, I wanted to explain why they suddenly had all sorts of things their tools can do that they know they can do when Ladybug especially hardly ever transforms and never sticks around to chat. Mix with that how I actually write Paris to be bigger than 3 blocks long...
> 
> Next up is Stormy Weather...


	6. Climatika

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finals of the KIDZ+ competition pits two of Adrien's fangirls against each other. Meanwhile, Marinette has to babysit Manon when all she wants is to just watch Adrien's photo shoot.
> 
> \----
> 
> Aurore struggled not to burst into tears right there on the stage in front of everyone. It... it wasn't fair! She had given it her all, stayed up late at nights to practice poses and worked on her smile in the mirror. She wanted to be an idol. It was all she had dreamed of since as long as she could remember, and to loose so soundly to a girl who changed what she wanted to be every few months and had admitted in class her primary reason for continuing in the competition after it started getting hard was just because Adrien Agreste talked to them about it after every competition?
> 
> Heartbroken and enraged, Aurore couldn't stay there and clap for the girl everyone loved so much more than herself. That Adrien clearly loved more than her. What was wrong with her? Why was she so unworthy? What did flaky Mireille have that she didn't?! She ran from the stage before her shame could be made any more of a public laughing stock than it already was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the real Place des Vosges is a very old park between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. In the show, how the episode Bubbler shows it is that Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie is nestled between Place des Vosges and Collège Françoise Dupont. Then on the other side of Place des Vosges is Hôtel Le Grand Paris, and on the other side of that is the Seine and Eiffel Tower beyond. Seriously, 90% of the first season really does take place in a 3-block radius, given the Agreste Mansion is shown to be neighbours with Hôtel Le Grand Paris in that shot. However, I'm being more realistic about these things, and though I am moving a few landmarks around to try and make sense of them, this is also an alternative universe. So in this universe, Place des Vosges just the name of the park which is located on the other side of Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie like in the show, but is still around three kilometres away from the Eiffel Tower, rather than the eight kilometres of real life. The real Place des Vosges is one of the oldest parks in Paris, and is about four city blocks in total. The show looks like they took one quarter of it and then dropped a carousel into it. There is no carousel in the real park, but it's a plot relevant location in more than one episode, so it stays in the story. 
> 
> Also, for those of you that don't know, this is the Stormy Weather episode. There was really no option to add Chloe or Nino to the events of the day, but I tried to reference them and previous chapters the best I could. And yes, Gabriel is a creep.

It was Saturday, which usually meant that Marinette was working on something to do with design. She had an Instagram account which wasn't very popular yet, but it let her post pictures of what she was working on and do commissions for people. Currently she was trying to get a commission done of a hat for a cosplayer. It wasn't as fun as doing her own designs, but she needed money to buy materials, and at least it was good practice to make things she wasn't used to making. 

Unfortunately for her, there had been an international event that had all the news stations and their reporters working over-time to cover. As such, Nadja Chamack had needed someone to watch Manon on the off hours of her usual daycare, and Marinette had been tasked with it. She couldn't exactly argue the fact, she was horrible at saying no when someone needed help, and she had watched Manon sometimes in the past, no matter how much the little girl steamrolled her.

Marinette was in the kitchen, making the little girl a mid-morning snack while she let the television play to hopefully keep the child amused. Right now, they were airing the finals for the KIDZ+ competition that Alya had wanted to be part of. She listened without really paying attention as she cut the vegetables into sticks and set them down next to the small bowl of grapes and the sandwich cut in quarters. She turned and went searching for the plastic cups so she could pour some apple juice and the curly straws that she had used when she was little and knew were in the back of one of these drawers somewhere.

“ _Welcome to the final of our big KIDZ + contest! Today, you will find out who will become our channel's new news anchor_ ,” the host, Alec, was saying over the cheers of a live audience. “ _At the start of the competition, there were five thousand candidates. But thanks to your votes, dear viewers, the final will be played today between these two absolutely brilliant young girls! Let’s welcome our two finalists without further ado ... To my right, Aurore Beauréal! And to my left, Mireille Caquet! Who will be the lucky winner? It's up to you to vote! Type 1 for Aurore or 2 for Mireille! And remember, calls are non-premium on our channel!_ ”

Marinette glanced up as she put the cups out, curious despite herself at what her two schoolmates were wearing. Aurore had been making a big fuss at school the other day over the fact that they had to have weather-themed outfits for the finals, which were a weather girl theme. Marinette thought it was kind of silly, as real weather reporters didn't dress up in themed clothing to report, but she supposed it was more for the ratings than practicality. These reality-show type competitions always made the contestants do ridiculous things to win. Add to that this news station was being targeted at teens and children... well, grownups seemed to have a strange idea what interested kids.

Her attention, however, was quickly diverted as she saw Manon standing there with the bonnet she was working on on her head. “Oh no! Please, Manon, give it back to me!” Marinette insisted, trying to keep her voice from sounding too angry in hopes of coaxing the girl into obeying. She hurried over to take it, before it could be damaged, but Manon held it tighter and ran away to the far side of the living room. 

“But I'm gonna work in fashion, too!” Manon insisted, jumping up on the couch and trying to strike a model pose.

Marinette made a grab for her, but her foot caught on the rug under the coffee table and she ended up face-planting into the cushions beside the little girl, who agilely dodged to the side and scampered over the back of the sofa before scurrying away. “No, Manon! Stop, it's not finished! You'll ruin it!” Marinette warned, voice taking on a more desperate tone as the little girl ran and giggled at her sitter's expense.

The next several minutes were taken up by chasing Manon around the house, under tables and circling the sofa. Whenever Marinette got close, the small girl would run away giggling faster than Marinette could keep up with. So, Marinette had no choice but to try and sneak up on the little gremlin, which turned the chase into a game of hide and seek. This was how she came upon the curtains, pulled out in a funny, bulging shape. Smirking at the innocent child's inexperience, Marinette inched up as quietly as she could manage. 

Careful not to cast a shadow, so the child would have no forewarning. When she finally got into position, she tore away the drape with a dramatic “Aha!” Only... only to find a chair with one of Manon's dolls sitting atop it, the doll wearing the hat she had been attempting to reclaim. She lifted the hat and blinked before glancing around. She had her hat, now where did her charge go?

“My favorite is Mireille, I vote for her,” she heard Manon saying and turned to see her standing in front of the television with Marinette's cellphone in her hands.

Marching over, Marinette snatched her phone from the little girl's hands. “Hey! It's my phone!” Manon took the chance to swipe the hat back and made another run for it. Marinette just sighed in defeat. “Why did I agree to do this babysitting again?”

Tikki floated up from under the couch, giggling at hir holder's expense. “Because you can't say 'no'.” Honestly, though that trait was one of the biggest reasons she had been chosen as Ladybug—her inability to turn her back on those in need no matter what it cost her—in times when it wasn't life-or-death it did cause her some problems. Oh well, all holders had things wrong with them, and setting reasonable boundaries was just something hir current holder would need to work on.

“Tikki! Stay hidden!” Marinette warned, glancing around for Manon.

“Don't worry! You know what? Think of this as tactical training! You can outsmart an akuma, can you manage to outsmart a four-year-old?” ze teased.

“Are you saying akuma are less intelligent than a little girl that hasn't even started kindergarten yet?” Marinette asked, feeling slightly insulted for the sake of the akuma victims.

“Well, she managed to outsmart _you_ ,” Tikki pointed out, gesturing to the drapes.

Marinette was about to retort, when the doorbell rung. As Tikki dove back into hiding— just phasing strait through the top of the sofa—Marinette went to see who was at the door. A quick cursory glance at her phone proved it wasn't time for Mme Chamack to be picking Manon up yet, so she didn't know who else it could be.

However, when she opened the door, she gasped softly. “Alya?”

“Hey! I have a huge scoop for you!” Alya enthused. “Guess who's doing a photo shoot in the park?”

Alya's phone got pushed under her nose, showing a shot of the fountain in Place des Vosges, at which a posing Adrien stood, getting pictures snapped of him by a photographer, his bodyguard visible off to the side. Marinette grabbed at her friend's phone, heart skipping a beat at the sight of her crush. “Ah! It's not true! Does that mean Adrien is at the park right now?!”

“Ab-so-lute-ly!” confirmed a grinning Alya, leaning against her door frame with arms crossed. “Shall we go?”

And suddenly Marinette was panicking. “Ah Damn! But ... but ... but what am I going to say to him?” she whined.

“Ah, well as usual,” Alya assured, waving her hand. She then teasingly started mimicking Marinette. “Uh, uh... I... uhh... Ouhh... Ahgg!”

“Stop!” Marinette pleaded, trying to laugh off the mocking at her own expense. She knew she was a hopeless, gibbering mess whenever he was around, but did everyone have to keep on poking fun at her for it? Really, it just made her more nervous and self-conscious about her words and actions than she already was. Suddenly, she felt something at the back of her knees and looked down to spot Manon bent over in half and staring up at Alya from her place of safety. “Oh! That's right...”

“Who is she?” Manon asked.

Marinette's heart fell. “Sorry, I can't go today. I'm a little tied up with prior obligations...” she informed Alya.

“And who is your little obligation?” Alya asked, kneeling down to meet Manon eye-to-eye.

“This is Manon Chamack, I told you I babysit her sometimes...?” Marinette reminded. 

“Chamack?” Alya echoed, eyes widening slightly as she took in that little detail. Mme Chamack had donated the suit Marinette had refitted for Alya's first audition for the KIDZ+ competition. Alya still had it, though she didn't get the part, she said she wanted it in case she needed to look professional for some reason.

“I'm supposed to be watching her til this afternoon. I can't go out,” Marinette relented.

“Let me guess: another one of your famous 'I couldn't say no' situations?” Alya stated more than asked.

“N-no, it's because I... couldn't... say... no,” Marinette admitted.

“Look, it's nothing to be concerned about, we're just taking her out for a little fresh air at the park, right?” Alya prompted. “Don't worry, I can take care of your little obligation, and you can see Adrien!”

“Oh, but...” Marinette started, looking conflicted as she watched Manon run around her living room. She was torn. On the one hand she really, really wanted to go. Adrien—beautiful Adrien—was there, modelling in the park just a block from her house. Modelling Gabriel brand originals that hadn't even appeared in magazines yet! To be able to see them in motion, appreciate the patterns and stitching with her own eyes, it would be like a dream come true! And a photo shoot! Oh, the inside tricks of the trade she could gather from watching a real, live photo shoot... She was sure it would give her so many ideas to watch the professionals work, and it would help her to know what was needed when she finally had her own photo shoot. But on the other hand... “Manon is my responsibility, and besides that I can't do this to you. She's uh... such a little angel.”

Suddenly there was a crash, and Marinette screamed, running to see what had happened. Manon dodged her, running past with a skillet and spatula, slamming them together with all her might as she started scurrying around the sofa again, Marinette struggling once more to try and catch her. “No! Give it back to me now!” Marinette insisted, managing to get the skillet from the little girl, and set it atop the back of the couch as she tried to catch the girl up. Alya watched with some amusement as the preschooler doubled back under a table and grabbed the skillet once again. Marinette tried to make a dive for it, but her leg caught on the dining room chair and she ended up tripping over it and landed on the floor in a heap.

At this point, Alya took pity on her friend and stepped in to block Manon's path long enough for Marinette to get her hands on said little angel. “You're being lead around by the nose, Marinette,” Alya pointed out as she watched Manon fighting against Marinette to get away again. “I often look after my little sisters, so now I'm an expert in 'little angels'.”

“Hey! Who are you?” Manon demanded.

Alya knelt down to Manon's eye level again. “I am a magical unicorn from the planet Rispa. And I am here incognito, disguised as an absolutely sublime young girl! I love children and I grant their wishes, but only the good children!”

Manon laughed at the absurdity of what Alya said. “You're not a unicorn...” she insisted, then paused hesitantly. “Are you?”

Instead of answering, Alya scooped Manon up under the arms with a cheer and started swinging her around like she was flying. Manon squealed in delight as Alya deposited the small girl on Marinette's shoulders. “There you go. Let's go play at the park for a bit, okay?”

Manon giggled, “Yay!”

“Oh, snack on the counter, and my purse...” Marinette insisted. She helped Manon down so she didn't trip and hurt the preschooler. “I'll just be a minute,” she promised. She grabbed a towel and laid it out over the morning snack she had been making to keep the dust off of it, they could come back and eat it once Manon was actually hungry. She slipped her phone back in her purse and held it down low by the couch as she pretended to look around as if making sure she didn't forget anything. Once Tikki had flitted inside, she turned off the television, looped her purse over her head and came to take Manon's other hand. “Okay, let's go to the park!”

~*~

Alec Cataldi stood before the giant screen on the stage of the talk show studio, the seats filled with supporters and the two contestants standing to either side of himself. They had given their last performance, given their final 'I want' speeches, and now it was time to wrap this whole thing up once and for all. “Welcome back to all our viewers at home! For anyone just tuning in, this is the finals for the KIDZ+ news anchor competition! After nearly a month of gruelling competitions testing their skills in every field of reporting, our last two contestants went head to head to show who could be the ultimate weather girl! And here we are, the moment you've all been waiting for! Who will win the position of host for the new KIDZ+ News: News for Teens by Teens? You have made your choice at home! And the winner is...”

In a wide sweeping gesture, Alec drew attention to the ballets over his shoulder, close ups of each contestant's face showing on the split screen as it rolled in the results. 82,000 was the number of votes it landed on for Mireille, while Aurore got a measly 18,000 votes. “Mlle Mireille Caquet!” Alec exclaimed. Both girls faces filled with shock, as the camera focused on Mireille alone as her face flooded with excitement, shoving Aurore off the split screen as her face crumpled in embarrassed tears.

The audience and judges all clapped, and Alec leaned over to Aurore with a snide “Wow! You were beaten by a landslide! Another time, maybe?”

Aurore struggled not to burst into tears right there on the stage in front of everyone. It... it wasn't fair! She had given it her all, stayed up late at nights to practice poses and worked on her smile in the mirror. She wanted to be an idol. It was all she had dreamed of since as long as she could remember, and to loose so soundly to a girl who changed what she wanted to be every few months and had admitted in class her primary reason for continuing in the competition after it started getting hard was just because Adrien Agreste talked to them about it after every competition?

Heartbroken and enraged, Aurore couldn't stay there and clap for the girl everyone loved so much more than herself. That Adrien clearly loved more than her. What was wrong with her? Why was she so unworthy? What did flaky Mireille have that she didn't?! She ran from the stage before her shame could be made any more of a public laughing stock than it already was.

“Hey, cheer up! There's just a gap of a million votes between the two of you!” Alec called after her. He didn't sound sympathetic in the least, more that he was trying to make her fail into one of those 'so epic it goes down in internet history' things. She felt attacked, used, belittled. How could she put on a smile and play along in a moment like this? She was only thirteen, after all.

~*~

Gabriel had been staring fixatedly at the portrait of his ex-wife when he felt it. A strong pulse of devastation, anger, resentment. It rippled across the higher levels of the universe, invisible to those not attuned to it, but oh so clear to the likes of him, thanks to a certain butterfly broach. “Nooroo, let's go!” he ordered, stepping up and pressing his fingers to the buttons hidden within the portrait's abstract design. 

Nathalie looked up from where she was typing at her desk across the room, wishing a simple “Good luck, sir,” as he sank into the floor.

Luck? He was Gabriel Agreste, Le Papillon, what did he need luck for? No, he didn't need luck, he just needed to be smart and find the akuma that had the power-set that could actually take down these heroes once and for all! “Nooroo, transform moi!” he commanded, feeling the absolute power wash over him. But it wasn't enough. Even now, he knew there was something greater, something that would grant him absolute control over everything in existence. And he wanted it.

If he had it, he could prevent her ever having the audacity to walk out on him. If he had it, he could erase the humiliation of those court hearings where he had been forced to give up so much of what was rightfully his. If he had it, then everyone would be properly obedient to him like they should be and he would be on high as the one true god above all the petty mortal scum! He wanted it so badly he could almost taste it, tantalizing and alluring and rightfully his, because he alone deserved it.

The elevator pulled to a stop in his attic lair, he glanced briefly over at his ex-wife's portrait, the only woman perfect enough to be worthy of him. Well, worthy enough for more than a temporary fling, but why shouldn't he have his fill of whatever harlot throws herself at him if he felt so inclined? What right did she have to get cross with him for just doing what nature had programmed him for? If he was so desirable, he should be free to spread his seed. It wasn't his fault she walked in on them when he had his eager young secretary on her back across his desk. What he did was his business, she hadn't the right to criticize him for it as though she were some holy being above him.

He put her aside for now, though. He'd have time to ruminate on the one who had the audacity to turn him aside and replace him later. In the meantime, he had an akuma to make and ultimate power to gain. He pressed the button to reveal his ornate window to the outside world. “The emotional vibrations are strong. I already feel the anger, the disappointment, the moment when my next victim will weaken. The perfect prey for my akuma.” 

He summoned a butterfly down to his hand and infused it with power before sending it flying off towards it's target.

~*~

Aurore impatiently pressed the elevator button to go back to her changing room where she could hide until the crowds cleared out. It wouldn't mean she won, she'd still have to face Mireille during class on Monday and all the days after, but at least she could avoid facing the masses and mitigate her embarrassment a little for a short while. She sniffed, rubbing roughly at the tears that came from her eyes unbidden, and jabbed the button again. 

When the doors opened, she stepped into the empty elevator, pressed the button for her floor, and leaned back against the far wall. “I should have won. I have talent, I'm super pretty, I have a star look when she has nothing at all! Absolutely nothing! It was my victory and they stole it from me!” Aurore insisted to herself, seething with jealousy. Suddenly the power cut out, and the elevator stopped with a sudden jolt, knocking her off her feet as she hadn't been standing steadily to begin with. She looked around in the darkened space, only the emergency lights letting off a blue glow around the bottom of the room.

She had left her cellphone in the changing room she had been supplied with, not wanting it to go off while she was on stage. She was just starting to look around to try and figure out her options—no one knew where she was, how long would it take for someone to find her and save her?—when she spotted something dark and small trying to force its way into the elevator with her through the spot the doors closed at. Horror filled her, she had seen the video footage of the Stoneheart incident so she could recognize an akuma when she saw one.

She didn't want to become a monster! She was just having a bad day! She was allowed to have a bad day! She was allowed to feel upset about losing, about failing at her dream, being told she wasn't good enough, and then being mocked for it on live national television! It wasn't her fault she was upset! Mireille didn't even really want to win, she just wanted Adrien's attention! She was right to be hurt by this! It didn't make her a monster...

Her hands grabbed for anything, something to help, something to save her. Her fingers of her right hand closed around the handle of the parasol that she had brought as a prop. She clutched it with both hands and swung it with all her might, trying to swat the evil butterfly, trying to knock it away or kill it before it could touch her. Before it could change her. But the butterfly just dodged and continued to encroach. Aurore pushed herself back as far as she could get, whimpering in fear of the little black bug, and opened the parasol wide, hoping it would shield her, hide her, protect her. But then, everything seemed to fall away, her mind filled with nothing but the anger and jealousy and humiliation she had felt on the stage not ten minutes before.

~*~

Le Papillon felt the moment the akuma latched on, so many strong emotions giving him clarity on that moment and the pain his target felt. From her, through the akuma, through Nooroo, and into him, he could see it, feel it, her pain and suffering. The disappointment of having her dreams shattered; the mortification of being told she wasn't good enough; the jealousy of loosing her place to someone who didn't really want it, and was only in it to get the attention of a boy. A boy they both coveted and competed to try and gain the attentions of. 

Well, if she succeeded in getting him the Miraculous he desired, he may just give him to her. A fine prize for someone who helped him so much. But only if she got him what he wanted.

“You are absolutely right. Yes, you should have won,” he validated, helping to ease himself into her mind that fought so hard against the turn. It wasn't the powers she feared, or even doing something bad, she was scared he would make her ugly. She honestly thought her image was everything, how would anyone be able to love her if she looked like some ugly, scary monster?

But his words resonated in her and he could feel her straiten her shoulders. “ _Yes, I should have won!_ ” she insisted.

“Climatika, I am Le Papillon. I will give you the power to avenge yourself and prove to the world your greatness. You will become _my_ Miss Weather Forecast. In return, you will have to bring me the Miraculous. So what do you say?”

“ _Got it!_ ” she agreed with a grin, letting the darkness overtake her out of spite.

“Go my dear Climatika,” he instructed as the elevator doors opened. “Show them all what a real weather forecaster can do!”

~*~

Adrien pulled another practised pose at his photographer's insistence. This was the third costume change in the last two hours, and frankly he was getting bored. And tired. He had been up late last night texting Nino, under a pseudonym they had come up with, of course so when Nathalie went through his phone to make sure he was behaving himself she wouldn't realize he was talking to his friend that he had been told to cut all ties with. Still, it had started off with Nino asking him about a math question, and to help Nino understand it better, he began walking him through it referencing the mathematical combinations of a music score. 

It turned out, though, that Nino didn't have any formal music training, and so was unaware of how math applied to music and the moods it could elicit, and so Adrien went on a big rant about everything he could ever remember learning about musical theory. Then next thing he knew it was three hours later and he had stayed up way too late for the five AM wake-up he had the next morning. Or, later that morning as it had turned out by that point. And of course he was never allowed to eat before a shoot because food in his stomach would cause it to bulge. Why pay to have a picture photoshopped to make him look better if the company could save the money by just denying him food?

He knew he would be allowed to eat when he was done, but it was already ten o'clock and he was sleep deprived and hungry and bored. He just didn't want to put in the effort and energy for every jump Vincent wanted him to take to express the freedom and movement of the clothes combined with the playfulness of a young boy. The makeup artist stepped away after applying a touch up of foundation and covering it with a powdering of blush to give his cheeks that energized glow. Because real rosy cheeks from exertion didn't look good, but a face devoid of colour variation looked too fake even for the camera.

He took the next pose he was instructed to and half-zoned out Vincent's ramble. “Yes, Voila! It's good~!”

A handful of meters away, Marinette, Alya, and Manon all stood behind a tree together, peaking around the side as unobtrusively as they could manage. Marinette looked nervous, and Alya amused, while Manon didn't really get what was going on but wanted to be part of this 'girl thing' and so was mimicking them anyway. Marinette took a deep, steadying breath, trying to calm her nerves. “Okay, let's just pretend to be passing by... casually. Like, 'if we're here, it's totally by chance'!”

“And then?” Alya asked, hoping they hadn't come all this way just to walk past Adrien and that be the end of it.

“Then... I'll ask him to have a drink! Like, a fruit juice! Just after his shoot! And then we'll get married and live in a beautiful house and we'll have a child—no, three!--and a dog—or a cat—no, two cats! No, a hamster! I love hamsters! Aaah~!” she ended, not able to formulate words anymore as her mind was too far gone dreaming about their theoretical future.

Alya sighed, crossing her arms and cocking a hip at the blunette's display. “Uh, right... how about we just start with casually approaching him. You can worry about that hamster later.”

Marinette rubbed the back of her head, giving an embarrassed laugh, toeing the dirt at her feet. She hadn't meant to let her fantasies out like that, but she had been dreaming of what their futures could hold lately, and everything seemed to come down to married with children and pets. She'd even started a name list of her favourite names that they could give to their hypothetical future children. She had talked about it to Tikki so much lately that it had just kind of slipped out to Alya without thinking.

Meanwhile, Vincent was continuing with his strange encouragements, half in Italian, half French, sometimes a strange garbled mixture of both. “Magnifi-Génial, go ahead! I want to feel the sun set in your eyes!” Adrien knew as a child Vincent was under strict directions to keep everything PG, so he ended up with lines about spaghetti instead of about things that happen in bedrooms, but sometimes he wasn't quite sure what the man was looking for with some of his descriptors.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement, and turned to look. The first thing that registered in his mind was Marinette and his heart swelled at the sight of her. The second was that she was walking very oddly. Third was that she wasn't alone, Alya and a little girl were with her, and he wondered for a split second if this wasn't one of the little sisters Alya had mentioned having in passing. Alya and the girl were walking normally, watching Marinette moving in such a strange gait. He wondered if she was nervous about Vincent having a camera out? Maybe they were wanting to pass to where the carousel was but she was worried about getting in the way of the shoot?

The moment she noticed him looking, she froze and came to a standing position, hand behind her head and that extremely forced smile on her face. His heart sank a little. He knew he was only so interested in her because of her strong resemblance to his Lady, she was the best he had on a day to day basis, and he really was trying to push those feelings aside so he could come to like her for herself as a proper friend. But her blatant unease in his presence was disheartening. Was he really so intimidating? She talked so freely to Alya and even Nino, what made it so that she didn't feel like she could communicate?

He put on a smile to try and reassure her, and waved at the two girls, but Vincent quickly grew cross with him for breaking pose and loosing concentration and so he was forced to return to work lest this become even longer of a photo session.

Unaware of the commotion he had caused with a simple wave as he got back to work, he didn't see Marinette nudging Alya as she squealed, “Did you see that?! He waved at me!” 

Alya rolled her eyes. “Woooah, yeah, I saw... not like we're classmates or anything,” she drawled. She watched Marinette continue with her forced grin and waving, despite the boy no longer even looking in their direction, for another half minute before reaching over and physically stopping her by pushing her hand back to her side.

And then Marinette saw it. An intern stepped out of the pavilion that had been erected to one side of the park, carrying two different jackets on hangers. Part of the new fall line. They were the same cut, but different colours, and the intern seemed to be asking about them from an older stylist standing off to one side. Her mouth practically watered, she wanted so badly to go and get a better look at them. 

Apparently, Gabriel decided that mid-thigh length coats should be back in this year. She could tell the wood toggle buttons were engraved, but couldn't make out the design on them from this distance. The materials looked like wool from this distance, given how they laid and moved, and one was a dark charcoal grey while the other was a deep tuscan red. 

Alya smirked at her friend's absolutely smitten expression, until she realized where the girl's eyes were trained, then sighed. “With all of Paris drooling over his pretty face, you decided to drool over his shirt instead. And not the body under said shirt, just the shirt.”

~*~

With the production over, Mireille stepped into the elevator, holding her trophy to her chest with a contented sigh. This was going to be so much fun, she could hardly believe she actually won, and Adrien had been so supportive the whole process long. She daydreamed about what would happen Monday morning when she saw him at school. She could picture it so clearly, him coming up and congratulating her, wearing the cologne she got him for his birthday, telling her how impressed he was before declaring he loved her and asking her out. 

That green colour at the edges of Chloé and Aurore's faces, while the rest of his fangirls from their class wept at their own defeat. Well, she felt a little guilty about imagining that last part. She couldn't help but feel vindictive about Chloé interrupting her confession on his birthday, though. But Aurore hadn't really done anything wrong against her lately, save for being her rival in this competition. So, perhaps she'd go check on the other girl in her room and do her best not to gloat as she consoled her for her loss. That was a nice thing to do, right? Extend the proverbial olive branch now that she was the winner...

The doors open and Mireille was about to step out when she froze. There was an akuma standing right before the elevator doors. Mireille screamed.

“Hi there, my name is Climatika. The only weather forecaster who is never wrong. Here's a bit of bad news for you: looks like something frosty is headed your way...” the akuma said, pulling Aurore's cute poses as she held the parasol. “ _...right now!_ ” she suddenly became aggressive, pointing the parasol at Mireille. The tip glowed an almost blinding blue before blasting at her, ice encasing the doorway, trapping the elevator in spot. 

Mireille pounded at the wall of ice, “Help! Get me out of here! Help! _Help_!” But the akuma just calmly walked away.

~*~

“Bravo! You are awesome~!” Vincent babbled as he snapped pictures of Adrien. The model was highly distracted by the fact that his two female classmates and the little girl with them had stopped their walk to stand and watch him. “And now I want to see the same smile as when mama brings the spaghetti.” Translation: look excited. “Good. And now mama has dropped the spaghetti.” Translation: look longing and disappointed. “You are surprised. Show me surprised. And now the anger! You are very angry! Yes there ... you're awesome!”

Manon was bored. Marinette had said they were going to play at the park, but all they've done so far was stand around and stare at some boy getting pictures taken of him. This didn't seem very much like play to her, even if Marinette was smiling wide and her friend was laughing every few minutes. The guy taking the pictures talked funny and all the adults were walking around with that 'I'm busy' face she would sometimes see her mom and coworkers wear.

Manon noticed across the park, a man selling bright red balloons with Mireille's face on them. She squealed in delight, she loved Mireille! “Marinette! I want that Mireille balloon! Please! Please!” Manon begged, jumping up and tugging on her babysitter's arm for attention. But Marinette didn't even seem to be able to hear her, just continued grinning as she watched the boy. “Huh? Marinette? Marinette!”

Marinette let out a scream of surprise when Manon yelled her name, the man taking the pictures turned and yelled at them, “Maah! Silencio!”

“Please! Pleeeeaase~!” Manon whined, tugging at Marinette's arm insistently.

Le Gorille stepped up to remove the audience that was disrupting their photo shoot, knowing their presence was distracting Adrien and getting on Vincent's nerves. This wasn't anything new for outdoor shoots, it was hard to be somewhere public and ensure fans didn't harass the staff or Adrien himself. But le Gorille also sort of recognized the girls as ones Adrien spoke to at collège. He just wanted them to understand that visiting at work was not appropriate.

Alya, noticing the bodyguard's approach and not wanting to cause a scene that would result in her and Marinette being banned from Adrien's presence like Nino was, moved to pull Manon away. “Uh ... come on maggot. Let's go get your balloon.”

“But I want Marinette to take me!” Manon argued, clinging more stubbornly to the older girl.

Marinette sighed, she had really been enjoying watching the shoot, but everyone had stopped to stare at them, including Adrien, and she did have a responsibility to take care of. “I'll take her. I am her babysitter.”

“Yes, but what about Adrien?” Alya questioned, as Marinette hobbled away, Manon stubbornly latched to her leg like a leech. Marinette sighed. Boys were great, but... Manon was her responsibility right now, she had made a commitment and she wouldn't feel right letting Mme Chamack down like that. There would be other days to see Adrien and ask him out for juice, other chances to watch a photo shoot and see all the inner workings. Manon needed her now, and she had neglected her long enough.

~*~

The crowd chanted Mireille's name, holding signs for her and lining the red carpet out to the limousine that awaited her. The akuma stepped out into the sunlight, the people at the front of the crowd falling silent at the sight of her as those at the back still hadn't caught on and continued to chant. She stepped into a gymnast like pose, one foot forward and arms held aloft. 

Slowly the silence filtered back as fans realized something was wrong, those at the front petrified in fear. A few brave souls dared to raise their cameras and snap photos, one boy in his mid-teens that seemed to be streaming could barely be heard asking for followers to forward his footage to the Ladyblog. This was great, she was the centre of attention and no one dared look away.

But then it happened, a man a few rows back craning his neck to try and see over those in front of him asked, “Well, where is Mireille?”

Climatika snapped. Her arms dropping and glared in the general direction of that hateful name being uttered. “To those who voted for Mireille, I advise you to go and take shelter. There will be strong gusts of wind. Oh! Pity. It's too late.” With a swipe of her parasol, tornado strength winds ripped through the crowds. As she watched her offenders carried off by their screams, she smirked. When the wind died down, all the trash was gone, so Climatika sauntered out to the end of the red carpet before leaping into the air and flying away.

~*~

Marinette finished paying the man selling the balloons as Manon happily swung around her new Mireille paraphernalia. “Okay, come on. Let's go back now,” Marinette coaxed.

“I want to ride the merry-go-round!” Manon insisted, running off to it before Marinette could get a word in edge-wise.

“Ah! Manon!” Marinette cried, running after the little girl. “No, no, no, no! Stay here! I would like us to go back and see Adri... ugh...”

She caught Manon's hand, but the little one just turned and looked up at her with pleading eyes. “But you said we would play at the park. You didn't lie to me, right?”

A jab of pain shot through Marinette's heart. Liars were people like Chloé, who twisted the truth to get out of trouble, to manipulate others and cause them pain as they took the blame for things they never did. Liars were bad people who did bad things. She wasn't a bad person, right? And those pleading eyes looking up at her, so lost and in need, the whole future of trust and faith sitting on Marinette's shoulders. She wanted to go see Adrien, but she had said, and those eyes... Marinette wilted with a sigh. “Oh no. Stop, not that. Don't make those kitty-eyes at me. You know I can't resist your ey--”

Manon turned up the pressure, sticking out her bottom lip so far that Marinette could hang her guilt off it. Those large round eyes gained a glossy sheen to them and Marinette knew she was a goner. Something in her expression or posture must have revealed her giving in, because immediately Manon's face lit up and she exclaimed “I love you!” at the top of her lungs, dragging the thirteen-year-old behind herself once more.

Meanwhile, Adrien's exhaustion was starting to catch up with him. He had been pushing himself all morning and he felt his reserves reaching their depletion point. More and more pictures were being declared bad as the shoot went on, which wasn't exactly new, but still had Vincent stomping his feet and throwing a fit when the camera caught him mid-yawn. “No, no, no! It looks like you've eaten too much spaghetti! No, there needs to be more energy, more romanticism. It needs... a girl!”

Hunger pains dug at Adrien's stomach uncomfortably as Vincent continued on about spaghetti. This was a solo shoot, so Adrien didn't know where Vincent thought he'd get a girl, as all of the help were far too old to give that romantic vibe that he said he was looking for. But suddenly he was charging off towards the tree Alya had sat under to wait for Marinette to come back. He stopped in front of her and declared, “You! I need an extra model for a moment!”

Alya looked around in befuddlement. “Uhhh... who? Me?”

“Sì. To pose with Signore Adrien!” Vincent pressed. 

Alya laughed nervously. “Uh, that's not a good idea. Uh, I-uh ... I think I'm having an allergic reaction to that apple,” she tried to insist, showing the half-eaten apple to the man. 

Adrien, who had followed Vincent over to make sure he didn't harass his friend too much, became concerned with that news. “Really, Alya? Are you okay? Should we call for a doctor?”

“Oh, no, it's really mild, but... uh...” she trailed off, realizing that if she contradicted herself too much with how she didn't need to go to the hospital, she'd loose her excuse for not modelling.

Adrien also seemed to notice this inconsistency as he frowned at the apple in her hand. “You know, if you just don't want to model, you can just say so,” he insisted, ignoring Vincent's mutinous glare in suggesting he didn't have to get his way.

“Right... yeah, I don't... really want to? However, I know the perfect person for you! Don't move, I'll be right back!” Alya insisted, dashing off across the park to where Marinette was helping Manon up on top of a unicorn. “Girl! You have to get back to Adrien now!”

“But, Manon--” Marinette started to argue.

“This is your chance! They're looking for someone to pose romantically with Adrien!” Alya squealed.

“What? No way! Are you kidding me?!” Marinette freaked.

“Who's Adrien? Is he your boyfriend?” Manon asked.

“Huh? N-no! Finally, I mean ... yes? No!” Marinette garbled. 

“Come on! What are you waiting for? Get your butt moving!” Alya urged impatiently.

“But I have to watch Manon,” Marinette countered meekly.

“I'll watch her, you go! Come on. Hop hop. Go take care of Prince Charming, I'll take care of the little unicorn. I'll babysit her better, anyway,” Alya stated, climbing on the unicorn behind Manon.

“But Marinette's my babysitter!” Manon objected.

“Trust me...” Alya assured. “Unicorns unite! Off to Rispa! Let's meet good children and grant their wishes! Yihaa!”

“Yihaa!” Manon cheered, getting caught up in Alya's excitement.

Marinette smiled that Manon would be alright. She turned and hurried back towards where Adrien and Vincent were waiting. Alya's phone beeped with incoming messages, she took it out and glanced at it. There was a series of notifications about people wanting to post things to her blog, but she could worry about that after. Right now, she said she would watch Manon so Marinette could make her move on Adrien.

Overhead, unbeknownst to the pedestrians below, Climatika flew. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be pictures of Mireille, Mireille, Mireille. She had to get away, find somewhere Mireille wasn't known so she could be loved as number one. She turned her eyes forward, only to nearly fly face-first into a Mireille balloon. Gritting her teeth as she hit the breaks, she watched that loathsome face drift away. 

The sound of sobbing reached her ears and she looked down to a small boy crying over his balloon that floated away. “Ah, kid. Here is another one!” the salesman offered, trying to sooth the child. His little eyes lit up with such delight that he'd have Mireille's face following him around. It made Climatika sick to her stomach. She dove towards the offending paraphernalia, destroying the lot of them with an electrically charged swipe. 

Everyone started screaming as Climatika looked around for more Mireille. Her eyes landed on another red balloon over on the carousel and she angrily swished her parasol at it. A tornado of freezing air later and the whole thing was encased in ice. That would teach them to love Mireille more than her!

Marinette took a moment to look around for cover, before hurrying over and diving behind a park bench. She opened her purse and told her kwami, “It's up to us. Tikki, transform moi!”

As soon as the commotion began, le Gorille was at Adrien's side, trying to shield him from any incoming attacks and usher him away. “The pavilion!” Adrien insisted. “I'll be safe hiding in there!” Le Gorille looked like he would have argued if he were capable of doing so, looking to the car pointedly. But Adrien took that moment to duck under his bodyguard's arm and run for the tent. He slipped inside and into his private changing room without getting caught by either akuma or staff. He opened his bag where he had left his kwami, only to find it empty. 

“Plagg?!” Adrien called, panicked about his missing partner now of all times.

“I'm not here. Either way, I'm sleeping,” came the muffled reply. Adrien sighed, pulling out a wedge of the Camembert Plagg had convinced him he needed to carry with him everywhere for emergency re-charges and held it up in the air. Not ten seconds later had hir hovering before it, sniffing the air and drooling. At the incredulous look Adrien was giving hir, Plagg insisted, “And for your information, I can smell Camembert even while I sleep. It is one of my many talents.”

“Awesome, but we can talk about cheese later,” Adrien insisted, putting the wedge back in it's container and tucking the container in his pocket. “Plagg, transform moi!”

Ladybug cleared the fountain with a flip as she ran towards the ice dome that was once the carousel. “I never should have left Manon,” she berated herself as she ran. “Oooh, why did I do that? No, Alya was right, she'll take care of her. I have to trust her.” She looked through the ice to see Alya protectively cuddling Manon in her arms and Ladybug's heart constricted. “I'll get you out of there!” she called loudly so the sound would carry. 

She saw Alya shift Manon higher onto her hip, nodding and stepping away from the ice wall. Ladybug threw her yo-yo wide so it wrapped around the dome thrice, “Just like cutting a big ice cream cake,” she assured herself. However, due to the slippery surface, when Ladybug pulled back on the string with all her might, rather than digging in, the yo-yo just slid upwards until it came loose at the top. Taken by surprise, she stumbled at the sudden lack of tension before the weighted end snapped back and struck the heroine on the head, knocking her over completely. “Or not... I'll go with plan B,” she said as she picked herself back up.

“Where is Marinette?” Manon cried, seeking the familiar face when she was scared.

“Don't worry Manon. Marinette hasn't forgotten you,” Ladybug insisted, kneeling down and placing her hands on the ice opposite of the little girl she had been watching grow up.

“How do you know my name?” Manon asked. Her maman and preschool teacher had both warned her several times about strangers who knew her name being bad people.

“Oh, uh, Marinette told me,” Ladybug lied, a little surprised that a four-year-old of all people would call her out on knowledge she shouldn't have known. “She called me to save you! Now, I have to go, if I beat the bad guy all the bad stuff will go away, just like when the adults went away, remember? So I need you to be a brave girl and sit tight, okay?”

Alya put her hand on Manon's shoulder, pulling her in against her leg protectively, and giving Ladybug a thumbs up to let her know everything would be okay.

~*~

Climatika hovered only a foot or so off the ground, shooting off lightning bolts at everything that praised the existence of Mireille. Le Papillon had praised her, encouraging as much destruction as possible to lure out the Parisian Heroes. All she had to do was hand over a bit of jewellery they wore and all her dreams could come true! It wouldn't even be hard, with all the power she had, how could she lose?

“Hey, Ice Queen! Your arrival has caused quite the chill,” jibed a voice behind her. She turned to find Chat Noir perched atop the fence. “Because of you, there's no more cats in the neighbourhood.”

“My name is 'Climatika', not 'Ice Queen'!” the akuma insisted

Chat slid down the pole of the fence, twirling his tail-like belt in circles. “Tell you what, since I'm in a really good mood today, if you calm down, there won't be any injuries, get it?”

Not the least bit impressed, Climatika pointed her parasol at the cat-boy and a moment later a huge gust of wind carried him away screaming. Seemingly against the laws of physics, he bounced between a few cars like a ball in a pinball machine before finally splatting against the ground spread-eagle on his belly. He grunted as he started peeling himself up off the pavement, disgruntled and confused. Then to make matters worse, he heard a very familiar 'zwip' sound and Ladybug's voice reached him. “Ah! I'm disappointed. I thought cats always land on their feet,” she teased, offering him a hand up.

“It was intended, Milady. For the pleasure of finding you,” he flirted, standing up with her help and then bending down to place a kiss on the back of the hand he held.

“Oh? Hey, now is not the time to be charming, Chat Noir,” Ladybug insisted, pulling her hand free and pushing his face back with a finger on his nose. She then put her hands on her hips and gave him the side-eye from under heavily lidded eyes and grinning confidently. “A 'thank you' would have been enough.”

Chat was trying to piece apart her signals to determine how best to respond. Was she flirting back? Had he come on too strong? What was it she wanted? If it was just the timing being off, was being charming under different circumstances okay, then? His thought process was interrupted by the arrival of the akuma. 

“I have been informed of a storm front with risk of lightning and it starts now!” She held the parasol aloft and shot a bolt of purple lighting into the sky, which immediately began to darken. A blast of lightning hurtled down from the now blackened sky and strait for Chat Noir, who couldn't seem to get his tired brain to fully register it. 

Suddenly something hard hit him in the side and he was flung away, rolling across the ground with a few grunts as he bounced. He was laying on something warm, his lips pressed against a soft, smooth surface, and the smell of sweet cakes and warm bread filled his nose. Lifting his head up, he realized his lips had just been touching Ladybug's cheek. His stomach pulled a flip-flop as he looked down at her, laying sprawled beneath him, pigtails spread out to the sides of her head, and mouth hanging open slightly in surprise as a rosy pink dusted her cheeks.

He fought to keep the smitten grin from his face as he unconsciously licked his lips, seeking the taste of her. Then, realizing what he was doing, he laughed nervously. Her expression changed to one of annoyance, reaching up with one hand to grab his chin and turn his face in the direction they had just come from. Getting the picture, he got to his feet and prepared to return to the fight. “Ah, she wants to play cat and mouse.”

He lunged forward to confront her, hardly hearing Ladybug's warning cry of “Wait!” 

Before he could slow down to see what she wanted, though, the akuma struck the ground with a sheet of ice. “Mind the black ice!” Climatika called.

“Woah!” Chat exclaimed as suddenly there was no traction under his feet and he was just sliding uncontrollably.

“Tornado!” she cried again, sending out a torrent of wind that lifted the cars from the sides of the road and sent the heroes flying through the air. 

Ladybug latched her yo-yo around a light post, and with her other hand grabbed Chat's tail to stop them from being blown away completely. “I've got you!” she insisted, feeling the magic string of her yo-yo wrap itself up her arm to make sure she didn't get blown away. The gale cut out so suddenly, Ladybug face-planted into the sidewalk and Chat Noir landed on his head with his knees by his ears.

~*~

Climatika flew down the street at a leisurely pace, cars flying aside from her wind as she went. Le Papillon had been complaining at her to go get the Miraculous for him, but she didn't want to just yet. She still had her own dreams and goals to accomplish, and she had just beaten them both so soundly, with all her power she could take them out any time she wanted. So what was the hurry? She had a city to cleanse of that awful face that was Mireille Caquet. 

Speaking of which, there was a billboard promoting the girl now. A blast of lightning later and it was nothing, and Climatika continued on her way, laughing in elation at her own victory. Like this, she would become the most famous idol ever, and everyone would love her, and then surely Adrien would be hers and only hers...

Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped down about a half block behind her. The agitated cat cracked his neck and shoulders impatiently, “Raah! She's starting to get me angry,” he complained. He was hungry, tired, and still had at least another hour of holding poses and changing clothes after they were done here. Because he just knew his father wouldn't be satisfied with the excuse 'an akuma attacked' as to why he didn't have the pictures he wanted. Chat went to lunge forward again, willing to attack the akuma from behind if it just meant getting this all over with faster, but was pulled back by his tail.

“Woah there, mon Minou. Think before you get your claws out!” Ladybug said.

The fact that she had just called him by a petname, not to mention claiming him as hers, shot his heart into his throat. Even as she let go of him and he scrambled to regain his balance, petting his poor abused tail. “Why, do you have a plan?”

“Just follow my lead,” she assured with a little teasing sass. He tried to swallow his heart back into his chest, but with the way she was acting it was so very hard. She turned and began running up the side of the buildings and towards the akuma, Chat Noir was quick to mirror her actions along the other side.

Climatika must have heard something because she turned back to see Ladybug, who leapt from the building with her yo-yo spinning in it's pink-hazed disk. Chat pulled his baton from his back and extended it to form his staff moments before following suit. “You again?” Climatika called, sending another gale of wind at them, blowing them away.

But they weren't the only things sent flying. Cars crashed down all around them, it was difficult to avoid having several tons of steel squash them or take off their head. Chat dodged a flying SUV by dashing to the right, only to barely pull to a stop in time to avoid a little red electric car coming down nose-first in front of him. Jumping back, Chat Noir felt his heart leap out of his chest as he nearly lost his tail to a police cruiser slamming down behind him. The two vehicles started to lean inwards precariously and Chat ducked low as they hit each other leaving him in a small triangle of space. He scrambled forward before something else happened that brought the whole thing down on his head.

He spared a glance at Ladybug to make sure she was doing okay. She was jumping and twisting her body in all sorts of directions, leading leaps with her hips and dodging the incoming projectiles by mere centimetres some times. When the cars seemed to stop falling, the pair of heroes turned to try and approach Climatika again, only to have their jaws drop as a bus came hurtling at them. 

Suddenly, Ladybug's arm looped around Chat's neck from behind and began swinging her yo-yo around over their heads. The glowing pink disk appeared again, and cut through the metal and glass of the bus's side like a hot knife through butter. The edges of the circle she cut glowed molten red around their feet as Ladybug finally let the shield fall, accidentally whacking Chat Noir on the head with the weighted end again. “Ouch! Rah!” he cried, rubbing at the sore spot.

Ladybug gave a nervous giggle and rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, though, better than a bus I suppose?”

Chat Noir pouted up at her from where he knelt, displaying his best wounded look. “Kiss it better?”

Her worry dropped away to exasperation, “Right, never mind, you're fine.”

Standing up and plastering on a suave look, Chat rubbed his nails against his chest as though buffering them, “Damn strait.” Ladybug rolled her eyes.

~*~

Alya sat with Manon in the ice dome, teaching the little one patty-cake rhymes while the firemen outside worked to try and dig their way through to the girls trapped inside. “Barley, rice, barley, rice, catch it when it's rice. Barley, barley, bang!” at the cry at the end, Alya yanked her hands away. 

“Hey! It's not fair! It's always you who wins!” Manon complained. A strange cracking sound interrupted her and both looked up to where the sound came from. “Huh? What was that?” Manon asked, suddenly scared.

Thinking fast, Alya quickly came up with something to distract the preschooler. “Erm... it's... probably the goblin king! He ate so much his pants are tearing off! Ahahah! Rawr!”

Manon squealed with delight as she took off running from Alya's tickle hands, and the older girl laughed for a moment, caught up in the game, until the sound happened again. Looking up, Alya saw the large icicle spikes grow down towards them and grew increasingly concerned. Not wanting to let on to the little one though, she coaxed, “Come on, I'll tell you a story.” She gathered Manon into her arms and curled up with her on the bench of the ladybug jumper, under the cover of the carousel roof. 

~*~

Ladybug sat on Chat Noir's shoulders to reach the window on the opposite side of the bus. Sliding it open, Chat Noir extended his staff, her grabbing on as it passed her shoulders. It lifted her clear of the bus and she swung her legs until the whole thing tipped. Like a teeter-tauter, as her side went down, it pulled Chat up and out of the bus as well. As he landed she asked, “Is it me or is she a bit stormy?”

“It's either that or she missed her driving license!” Chat supplied as they began running together in the direction Climatika had been going.

A television in a storefront window flickered on to a close up of the akuma's face as the heroes were running by, causing both to pull short and look at her instead. “ _Ladies and Gentlemen! The fall equinox is fast upon us, and as you know that turning point signifies where darkness is greater than light! Oh? And it looks like Mother Nature is calling in an early winter this year! Flurries all around_!”

“Awa, too bad, how can I show off my perfect physique if I have to grow in my winter coat?” Chat practically purred, running his hands down his sides to draw attention to his tone torso.

“Huh?” Ladybug blinked, not following what Chat was trying to say. He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively to show he was kidding, and she rolled her eyes. “Phew, thanks to her, I'm not going to have to see that much longer. But at least we know where she is.”

“Hey, I'll have you know people would pay good money to see a shot of these abs!” Chat Noir countered, playing up his level of offence.

“Keep telling yourself that, Minou,” Ladybug teased as they hurried off to their destination.

~*~

They reached the TVi studio as the snow started to pile up at around ankle deep. Not enough to get in their way yet, but it was clear if they didn't stop this storm it would be before too much longer. They entered the tower to Climatika's face on every screen, the posters around the walls celebrating the finals for the KIDZ+ news caster competition were all destroyed, save for the ones promoting a certain pigtailed blond girl.

“ _Prepare for the worst storm ever. No need for sun..._ ” Climatika was rambling, but Chat Noir wasn't listening, he was lining up the poster of Aurore in his field of vision with the akuma.

“Hey! Doesn't this girl look kind of similar?” Chat Noir pointed out.

“Of course! The akuma is the girl who lost the competition! That's why she has such a grudge against the winner, Mireille!” Ladybug realized. “She was carrying around a parasol with her during the competition, that must be where the akuma is now!”

“ _I am pleased to announce summer is ending early this year. Make way for the eternal winter of Climatika!_ ” the televisions broadcasted as the heroes followed the door signs to the room the competition finals was recorded in, guessing that was the best place to start.

They burst through the doors, ready to start their fight. However, while that was the room the broadcast signal was coming from, it was merely a camera aimed at a television monitor, filming a prerecorded image. The figure on the monitor began to laugh a mocking, evil laugh. Suddenly their hearts sank as this had all the makings of a trap. However, it is also their only source of clues where the akuma could have gone. Therefore, they carefully stalked forward, trying to keep their eyes peeled for anything. It takes them a moment to realize the laugh behind them isn't just the televisions outside, but that a second voice is laughing along side the first. 

They turn just in time to see the real Climatika hold her parasol in the air, the tip glowing purple a moment before letting out a lightning bolt that struck the over-head spotlights. They dive to the sides, barely avoiding the falling fixture, and the electric surge must have shorted the circuit breaker because all the power suddenly cut out.

“ _Everything is going according to plan. Soon their Miraculous will be mine! Bring them to me, Climatika_!” Papillon said within her head. Climatika just laughed harder before running off to the next destination.

“Lady Glagla gave us the slip...” Chat noted as he picked himself up and shook off the debris. He looked over to see Ladybug walking strangely, only for her to walk right into one of the fallen lights and trip over it with an undignified squawk. “Oh? A damsel in distress?”

“What are you talking about, Chat? It's pitch dark in here!” Ladybug complained as she pulled herself back to her feet.

“I can see perfectly fine. Maybe a bit dimmer, but...” Chat Noir stepped into her path and took one of her searching hands in his. “Come on! Trust me to be your eyes, Milady.”

“O-okay...” she agreed, and off he pulled her in a run.

~*~

“And then the giant cyclops lifted the princess up with his claws and he said to her 'You are worth a look!'” Alya rambled, doing voices to help keep Manon's mind occupied. She could hear the firefighters still out there working at hacking their way through the thick ice walls, still hear the icicles growing ever closer, but she did her best to keep the little one calm. “The princess reacted immediately by putting her finger in his eye. But before leaving the cave, she bit into a bewitched potato and she fell into a very, very deep sleep.”

Suddenly a new noise broke into story time, there was a loud crack and both girls looked up to find one of the icicles had pushed through the roof of the carousel. Manon screamed in terror and Alya pulled the little one closer onto her lap in a protective hug, praying “Hurry, Ladybug...” 

~*~

Climatika laughed as the heroes chased her through the halls. She ducked through a door at the end of the way, and Chat Noir burst in after, pulling Ladybug closer for a moment so she would be clear of the door before it swung closed. “It's okay now! I can take care of myself!” Ladybug tried to assure him as they started chasing her up the stairwell.

“Get down!” Chat warned as he saw Climatika throw a fire extinguisher at Ladybug's head.

Thankfully, she ducked obediently, the loud clang ringing just over her shoulder as the extinguisher crashed into the wall making the girl flinch. “Uh... on second thought, I'll follow you on this one!” Ladybug exclaimed, trying hard to run on steps when she couldn't even see anything.

They had reached the top of the stairwell, a door there that they had both seen a momentary flash of light when Climatika had burst through. Knowing it must lead to the roof, Chat lead his blind Lady the last few feet and pushed the door open. At once he could feel the tension leave her through their conjoined hands as sight returned. They stumbled together out onto the darkened roof, snow still blowing down on them, making it hard to not imagine movement at every corner.

Climatika, who floated by the billboards, laughed at the hapless heroes. “You guys are cute. You fell right into my trap! Cyclone!” she called, a tornado of cloud and snow circling down around the top of the tower, sucking the air away and making it hard to breathe. “You are done! You will not get out of the eye of the storm.”

“It's only ju--” Ladybug began, stepping forward boldly, only to feel an unexpected tug on her arm. Both heroes turned befuddled faces to their still-conjoined hands. How had she forgotten about this? She looked to her partner who blushed and chuckled nervously before obediently dropping his hold on her. Ladybug tried again. “It's only just begun, Climatika! Lucky Charm!”

The ladybugs from her yo-yo formed into a beach towel that nearly blew away in the wind before she could get her hands on it. “What am I supposed to do with _this_?” she asked of Tikki, despite the kwami neither being able to hear nor answer her. 

“Does this mean we'll be getting wet?” Chat Noir asked, not sounding too thrilled with the idea.

“Oh? Don't feel confident you could pull off swimwear?” Ladybug bantered, wrapping the towel around one of her arms so it wasn't in the way and wouldn't get blown off somewhere.

“Flurry of hail!” Climatika commanded of the sky, and suddenly hunks of ice the size of baseballs came raining down on them from above.

Chat pulled Ladybug to him, lifting his staff and twirling it in his own version of her disk shield, returning the favour from earlier with the bus. “How are you going to snag the akuma? It's not that I'm tired, but I'd rather this not take all day!”

Ladybug scanned the roof contemplatively. They couldn't reach Climatika so long as she stayed so far above them, but how to get her down? What did she have to work with? There was the hail, and pipes, and the ventilation systems, and billboards, and... wait, would that work? The towel had gotten caught in the wind, if she could get it to have an updraft instead of a sideways draft... But the akuma would need to be distracted to not see it coming.

“Okay! Chat, try and get that big sign over there to land on her!” Ladybug instructed, pointing to the exact one she wanted for her plan to be in motion.

“On it!” Chat acknowledged before turning his attention to the akuma. “Hey, fake Ice Queen! Is that all you can do?” he taunted. He took off lunging towards her, and almost immediately she began retaliating with electrical strikes. He began bouncing around the roof, dodging her blasts with flips and fancy manoeuvring. A few times he even changed directions completely to throw her off her aim. Up on the vents, over the roof of the stairwell, back down and behind a different part of the ventilation system, around to the outer wall. He let his boots grind on the icy rail as he called “Cataclysm!” and took down the supports on the billboard Ladybug had indicated.

At the same moment, Ladybug threw her yo-yo around Climatika's ankle, catching the distracted akuma without even being acknowledged. As Climatika blasted a hole in the centre of the falling billboard to ensure it didn't land on her, Ladybug jumped atop the hail balls. Like marbles on a sidewalk, they rolled under her, carrying her below a pipe and safely out of the danger zone of the falling structure.

The weight of the toppling sign was enough to knock the piping off from atop an upward facing fan. As Climatika looked down in horror at the hole she had made in the middle of her once-beautiful portrait, Ladybug used the towel to catch the updraft from the exposed fan. This yanked Climatika down far enough that Chat was able to run along the surface of the picture she wouldn't damage further and snatch her parasol away. He threw it to Ladybug as he wrestled the akuma into submission with her arm behind her back.

Ladybug called back her yo-yo and snapped the akumatized umbrella over her knee before tossing it to the ground and getting ready. “Get out of there little akuma and let me take care of you! I free you from evil!” she swung out her yo-yo as the black butterfly tried to flee. “Gotcha! Bye-bye little butterfly!” Taking a moment to watch Chat get off the girl that was turning back to normal,she threw the towel into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Aurore sat up groggily as the sky cleared above the heroes, turning back into the beautiful clear day. “Huh? What am I doing here?” she questioned, looking around the roof blankly.

“Bien joué!” the heroes chorused.

~*~

“And after beating the three-headed dragon with her skill in...” Alya trailed off in her story as she noticed the inside of the dome suddenly start to get brighter, followed quickly by the dome disintegrating into steam. “taekwondo, the princess kissed prince charming and...” she said, scooping Manon up and stepping out into the sunlight towards the firefighters who were celebrating the success of the rescue.

“And they lived happily ever after?” Manon suggested.

“Well, uh, yeah. Well, until they had a dozen little maggots like you that drove them crazy,” Alya finished, tickling Manon's belly and causing the little one to laugh.

~*~

Le Papillon seethed in his lair. He had been so close this time, with such a powerful akuma, he had nearly won. “One day, your miraculous will be mine! No matter how many opponents I have to create to face you, I will win in the end!” he swore, closing the ornate window and hiding his lair from the outside world once more. 

~*~

Tikki's transformation had given out several blocks ago. Aurore had been able to get herself back to her changing room after the realization of what had occurred. She had seemed a bit numb, but Marinette could always check up on her in collège on Monday. She had had to hurry to make her way back to Manon, who had been trapped all that time with Alya. She must be so scared. Marinette was a horrible babysitter, she never should have taken her to the park like this.

She ran into the park and strait towards the carousel where Alya was still waiting with her little angel. As soon as Manon saw her, she came dashing away from Alya's side, arms out wide, and calling at the top of her lungs, “Marinette!”

Dropping to her knees, the blunette pulled the little girl into a tight embrace. “Oh Manon, I'm so sorry! It's okay now, I promise! I'm here!”

They held each other a moment, before Manon pulled away and whispered conspiratorially, “Say, I know what your secret is.”

Marinette floundered, how could Manon have seen through her being Ladybug when none of her classmates had? Was it because the little girl was so familiar with her? Or maybe something like how little kids are more open to the ideas of magic? “H-huh? I-er-um! But-But, uh, what secret?”

“Ladybug is your best friend! That's why you always know what the other is doing!” Manon reasoned, and Marinette could only smile.

She supposed, in a way, it was true. Tikki, the source of Ladybug's power, was her friend. “Okay, but Manon, you can't tell anyone, alright? Not even your Maman. If anyone found out this super-big secret, bad people would come and hurt me, and my Maman and Papa, and your Maman and Alya, too! So you promise?”

Manon nodded, everyone had been talking about the bad people attacking the city, and she didn't want Marinette or her maman or anyone to be hurt. Alya finally walked up, so Manon tactfully changed the subject. “Say, could I have a lollipop? Come on, please, please, please!”

“No, Manon, if you're hungry, there's a snack waiting for you at the house!” Marinette tried to insist.

“Awa, after a day like today, we can give her a little treat. She did loose her balloon, after all,” Alya pointed out, prying the child from the older teen's hands. 

“I'm really sorry I left you alone with her so long! I wanted to come back, but after Ladybug said she'd get you guys out, there was this big wind, and I got hurt when I landed and couldn't make it back until the Miracle Cure fixed me up!” Marinette explained.

“It's all good, girl. I told you I had her, and I knew you'd come back as soon as you could. But why don't I watch Manon just a little longer, huh? They're setting up the photo shoot again, and they never did get those romantic poses the photographer was looking for...” Alya suggested, balancing Manon on one hip and gesturing with her chin to where the crew were re-arranging things by the fountain for the change in lighting. 

Marinette hesitated as Alya walked away. “Would it really be okay?”

“Of course, Marinette!” Tikki assured from her purse.

“But... Manon is _my_ responsibility,” Marinette tried to explain this odd pain in her chest as Manon was taken further away from her.

“You managed to save Manon and the whole city of Paris; you deserve it!” ze said.

“Well... okay...” Marinette relented, going over to Vincent. “Um, do... you still need a stand in to work with Adrien?” Marinette asked, trying hard to keep her nerves down and her blush to a minimum.

“Oh, Marinette! You were the one Alya was referring to?” Adrien greeted with his warm smile. 

“Um, yes! I was dee fun—I mean, I photo—I mean, I um I-I...!” Marinette tried to get out, face turning scarlet and tongue tying itself in so many knots as she noticed he was standing beside her and smiling at her.

“Humm, how am I expected to work with _this_?” Vincent scathed. Marinette wilted in shame and stopped trying to talk, instead eyes cast to her feet.

“Vincent!” Adrien chided, giving his best imitation glare he could copy from his father. It failed to have the same effect from his childish features towards a man who regularly dangered his father's ire.

As the help finished setting everything up, Alya came up with Manon hanging from her hand to watch. The little one happily licked at one of those large swirling rainbow lollies, looking around at all the adults with innocent confidence. When everything was to the photographer's liking, Vincent turned to see if the gibbering mess of the girl had managed to pull herself together enough to do the shoot. That's when his eyes landed on Manon. “Two seconds! Who is this... little angel!”

Manon looked about a moment, before realizing he was talking about her and smiled. And so it came to be instead that Manon posed those last pictures with Adrien.

~*~

“It doesn't make sense!” Adrien grumbled as he watched through the compiled videos that people had taken from their house windows. Alya had arranged them all according to time-stamp into the closest thing she could of a full documentary of the fight. There were some things that were replayed from several different angles as different phones caught the action, while others were large cuts in time where no one had any footage. There was nothing, for instance, that showed the actual final confrontation.

“What doesn't make sense?” Plagg asked from where ze floated on hir back, munching leisurely at hir cheese.

“I'm a champion-level fencer!” Adrien reminded, gesturing to the wall of trophies by his door. “I know I was tired and hungry, but even that shouldn't have dulled my reflexes so much for all the hits I was taking! And that thing with the cars!”

“What, where they were all landing on you?” Plagg hazarded. 

“Well, that too, but I meant the earlier instance, where I was bounced around like I was in a pinball machine...” Adrien elaborated.

“You do recall I can't actually remember any of the fights, right?” the kwami drawled. “Besides, I already warned you about this! If you keep transforming without Ladybug balancing you out, you're going to put the universal energies out of whack! Right now, it's just manifesting in bad luck at a level you have the skill to counteract! But if you keep this up, it'll get bad enough you won't make it out the other side!”

Adrien paled. “I could be injured that badly?”

“You could be dead that badly!” ze insisted.

“How do we stop it?” Adrien asked.

“Well, unless Ladybug spends enough time in her suit without you to counter balance it...” Plagg shrugged.

“But then how am I going to get stronger in order to protect her if I don't practice?” Adrien pleaded.

The kwami looked at hir holder for a long, calculating moment, “No, I don't think you're up for that yet...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gla gla is apparently a way to say 'frosty'...
> 
> I wanted in this to highlight Chat testing the waters and figuring out what was appropriate and not in his relationship with Ladybug. Because let's get real here for a second: friendly flirting is okay IF both people are comfortable with it. It STOPS being okay if one of the party expresses discomfort or dislike about it. However, Ladybug sends VERY mixed signals in these early episodes. One moment she's telling the boy she doesn't want to flirt, and the next she's flirting with him. So he's trying to toe out where the line is and where her boundaries are without sitting down and spelling it out between them. So what I've kind of figured fits best is that she doesn't want physical flirting, or serious flirting, but she doesn't mind the playful banter and teasing type of flirting.
> 
> Also, I wanted to try and establish some of the things within Marinette and Manon's relationship to show how they're like sisters or close cousins. Marinette loves Manon, even when she's driving her nuts, and wants to always do right by her. Marinette is a selfless person, and will sacrifice if she thinks it's for the best of others. As Tikki pointed out, it's one of the main reasons she's Ladybug, but in other situations such a trait can be detrimental and Marinette will need to learn in later chapters how to distinguish between a situation that she really does need to sacrifice for and one she can say "no" and be selfish about. But she's also a bit jealous of Alya coming in and stealing Manon away without really realizing it.


	7. Lady WiFi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya thinks she's uncovered Ladybug's secret identity, but her attempts to get proof end her in hot water. Also a little heavy on the LadyNoir and Adrinette this chapter.
> 
> \-----
> 
> Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug's arm and pulled her to a stop. She turned as though to ask him what he thought he was doing, but he took out his baton and extended it over the railing until it reached all the way to the bottom floor. Slipping his arm around her waist, he pulled his Lady flush against his chest and for a moment froze, his breath caught in his throat.
> 
> He wanted to remember this. The look of her, almost nose to nose with him, staring up with her wide blue eyes, mouth hanging open slightly in a cute little 'oh'. He wanted to be able to pull this moment up in his mind, polish it like a diamond and treasure it like it deserved. But he knew it would fade, become foggy and impossible to hold. The way her eyebrows crinkled up in the middle, every freckle across her rosy cheeks, the feel of her chest rising and falling against his own, the touch of air against his lips with every sweet, tantalizing breath she took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fandom seems to love redemption arcs, and seeing as I won't be giving one to Chloe in this story, I've decided to let another fan-favourite character, Aurore, have one instead. Enjoy, I'm putting this in only for you. 
> 
> And as for Marinette this chapter, I can say from personal experience it takes a hell of a lot of strength to not only stand up to your bullies, but to do so in defense of another, who you know is very likely to just turn around and thank you later with an attack at your back, and yet you do it anyway because it's the right thing to do. Someone who can do such a thing isn't weak, or stupid, or gullible. They are the strongest person you will likely ever meet. All these stories of Saltinettes out there don't understand the conviction or power it takes not to break before the torrent, not to loose yourself to your most crass self. The sort of strength and conviction to always do the right thing, no matter what the cost, that a superhero the likes of Ladybug would have. So, there will be no Saltinette here, she'll not lower herself to those levels, because Marinette is a heroine and is better than that.

The silver car pulled up in front of the school Monday morning to let Adrien out. On the steps there was no Nino waiting, they were now forced to meet in class, but standing in the doors as usual was Chloé and Sabrina. He smiled a greeting up at them, glad to see their familiar faces after the weekend he'd had. As he reached the top of the stairs, he held his elbow out to his fellow blond as Sabrina greeted, “Good morning, Adrien.”

“Morning, Sabrina. How was your weekend?” he asked conversationally.

“Oh, it was good. I was over at Chloé's and we--” 

“Sabrina!” Chloé hissed, apparently embarrassed by whatever it was they had gotten up to and didn't want it getting out around school.

Adrien just smiled, understanding the importance of a public image that sometimes contradicted one's private self. Chloé would tell him later, if she felt it was an important enough detail for him to be aware of. He started leading the girls towards the classroom when a commotion caught his eye. Mireille Caquet was surrounded by other students, congratulating her on her landslide win from over the weekend. He veered their company to go over and give his own congratulations to the mix, she was his friend, after all.

Mireille's heart swelled as she saw the blond boy walk over to her. Sure it wasn't exactly her daydream, he wasn't wearing the cologne that she got him and Chloé was hanging off his arm, but he was Adrien Agreste, and he was here, and he was paying attention to her! “Morning, Mireille. Congratulations on winning that competition. I couldn't see the whole thing because I was at a photo shoot at the time, but I did watch the highlight clips on YouTube later on. You did really well.” Adrien then cast his eyes over the crowd until they landed on Aurore. “You, too. It's a shame there could only be one winner to the competition, but at least you made it to the finals, right?”

Aurore's heart jumped in her chest. Adrien had just gone out of his way to compliment her. Even as Mireille re-engaged him in conversation, the pigtailed blond couldn't quite get over that he had taken the time to single her out like that. Maybe he wasn't so out of her league as she thought. She watched him talk to her rival, with another girl that loves him hanging off his arm, and wondered what sort of chance she would have to get his notice. Mireille always seemed to be the girl among their class that he paid the most attention to. What was it about her that he found so appealing, and how could Aurore make it her own?

Then suddenly Adrien was turning away, even pulling his arm loose from Chloé, and hurrying off in the opposite direction. “Oh, Marinette!” he called, jogging up to the blunette that froze at the bottom of the stairs. Aurore blinked. She hadn't even noticed the disaster girl entering the courtyard, but he not only spotted her but abandoned everyone else to go be with her? “Good morning, Marinette! You're early today. I was hoping to catch you before class. The truth is, Vincent kind of didn't follow protocol when he had that little girl model with me Saturday... Um, she wasn't supposed to without signed parental consent? Um, but my Père really wants to use some of those shots. So now he wants to get in contact with her legal guardian?”

“Uh, buu, daa... Um, Manon-Nadj-Chama! I-I mean, um I!” Marinette floundered, struggling to even form a proper word, let alone comprehensive sentence when he was smiling at her so hopefully.

“I-is she one of Alya's little sisters?” he tried to hazard a guess for her sake, someone else he could talk to that he could actually understand. “I thought go to you because she seemed really attached to you. It was kinda cute, honestly.”

Adrien calling anything involving her or that she was even somewhat associated with 'cute' was more than Marinette's brain could register. Her face became impossibly crimson and she started letting out a long, high pitched noise that resembled air slowly being let out of a balloon.

Becoming honestly concerned about her, Adrien placed his hands on her shoulders to try and steady her. “Marinette? Come on, please? Breathe? I-it'll be okay, just calm down, alright?”

Chloé, who had been standing behind her childhood friend with one fist on her cocked hip and glaring at the baker girl through this whole thing, grew annoyed at this point and stormed forward. “Ugh! How ridiculous! She's _fine_ , Adrichou! Just leave her!” she insisted, snatching him by the wrist and dragging him away up the stairs.

“Bu-but Chloé!” he attempted to argue, still looking back at the frozen Marinette and reaching out for her with one hand the whole way.

Aurore stared dumbfounded at the whole scene. Not even Mireille, who nearly a hundred-thousand people loved the best could elicit such attention from the famous model. Just what did Marinette have that made her so special?

~*~

“Some would have said it was a seashell, pink back and stained with black...” Mlle Bustier read aloud to the class. Alya slipped her notebook out, the one she was keeping all her Ladybug-specific details in. She had printed out a screenshot taken from the last akuma battle, one that had a really clean shot of her, zoomed in from the bust up. She pulled out a pair of scissors and cut out her face, leaving behind only the hair and suit. “The warblers, to see us, leant into the bushes. Her open mouth was here, and I took the ladybug...”

Alya held up the modified picture, looking at the blank wall through the hole she had cut and smiled at her ingenuity. Now she just had to see who's face fit what she knew Ladybug to look like, and she'd know the hero's identity. She turned the photo towards Rose, the sweet little girl at the back of the class. But no, they didn't match. She moved on to Juleka beside her, but the girl's face was too covered from this angle, she'd have to check later on. 

Continuing further down the row, Alix was sat leaning back in her chair, balancing a pen on her upper lip. While the girl was definitely active enough to be Ladybug, Alya wasn't quite sure it could be her. Still, Alix was a maybe. Mylène was written off almost as quickly as Alya focused on her, that girl was even more shy and reserved than Marinette, so that definitely crossed her off the list of potentials for that confident and strong heroine. Sabrina was also quickly scratched off the list due to being such a brown-noser to Chloé. And Chloé...

“Alya? Are you still with us?” Mlle Bustier cut into her thoughts. Alya moved the photo around to see her teacher, only to realize the woman was much closer and looking directly at her with that stern 'you best behave yourself' look adults often give children under their care. Alya quickly put the photo back into her book and closed it, noticing the whole room was staring at her. The teacher sighed as she glanced at the clock and realized it was time to wrap things up, “Marinette didn't come back from the nurses office yet?”

“Er, I don't know?” Alya responded with a shake of her head and a shrug. Marinette had passed out in front of the school steps that morning. Though Alya hadn't been present, word on the grapevine was it had something to do with Adrien flirting with her? If that was real and not just a baseless rumour, Alya was glad for the girl. And by how guilty and nervous the Sunshine Child had been all morning since the news reached the class, she was willing to bet there was at least some truth to the statement. She just felt bad that the girl had to go and pass out afterwards. Yeesh, how embarrassing.

As the bell rang and everyone began packing up in order to move to the science room for next class, Mlle Bustier called out to the room, “For tomorrow, you'll carefully read the third chapter of the fascinating _'A Century of France's History'_ , then you'll answer this little quiz!” she then turned back to Alya. “Can you make sure Marinette gets the homework?”

~*~

Marinette came back part way through the following class, looking very shame faced and not meeting anyone's eyes. Because they were so far into the chemistry experiment, she didn't have time to start it herself from scratch and so was made to just join Alya and watch her experiment go through. She'd only be able to get half-marks on the day's participation score, but at least Mme Mendeleiev didn't punish her for being so late.

The lunch bell rang and everyone filed out of the class after washing their hands. Adrien was heading home for lunch again today, and Ivan was having a lunch date with Mylène, and Nino's other friend Jérémy Ramage was home sick with a cold, so the boy ended up following Alya and Marinette to their usual corner table. No one was really sure how it happened, but he had ended up over the course of the last month being folded into the same social circle as the disaster girl without that really being a bad thing. It wasn't that he actually interacted with her very often, just that they both seemed to interact with the same people and so now sometimes hung out.

He was still trying to decide if he was okay with that, but as long as his stuff wasn't getting messed up, he supposed it did give him somewhere to be on days like this.

So it was to everyone's great surprise when Aurore Beauréal plopped herself down opposite the three of them. It was a well known fact in their grade that while not quite as bad as Chloé, Aurore was a stuck-up bully and tended to think the universe ought to revolve around her. It was obvious that her and the rest of Adrien's fanclub only came to sit with them because it was where Adrien was, but usually on days he wasn't there, they were no where to be found.

But Aurore needed to be close to Marinette. Needed to hear what the girl talked about, how she formed her sentences, to see how she held herself and what gestures she made. She needed to uncover what it was that made Adrien go for a girl like her so she could become the same way and he would go for her as well. Not the clumsiness, because that's what drove everyone away from the Asian girl, but whatever it was that made her so beloved to Adrien that she's the only one he saw when they're in the same room. 

But she had barely been sitting there for a minute when none other than queen bee Chloé came to add her two cents. “Oh, what's this? After such a devastating defeat over the weekend, you've been downgraded to the loser's table? No wonder you lost by what? A million votes? You made such an ugly, troublesome monster.”

“Lay off her, Chloé!” Marinette demanded, jumping to her feet. Both blonds looked at the blunette in surprise. 

“Ugh, oh look, Césaire has rubbed off on Dupain-Cheng. Now there's two wannabe vigilantes running around our school,” Chloé complained, Sabrina laughing along like she was supposed to.

“You better believe it!” Alya affirmed, standing up to back her friend.

“I said I wasn't going to stand by you bullying anyone anymore and I meant it!” Marinette insisted. “At least Aurore had the guts to put herself out there and try! What have you done with your life?”

“Right, she tried, and failed, like the loser she is. And now here she is wallowing about with only the other losers to defend her,” Chloé sneered.

“Well, seeing as your precious 'Adrichou' sits here when he eats in the cafeteria, are you saying he's a loser too?” Aurore challenged. As Chloé sputtered for a response, she pressed on. “And really, what does that say about you? Always hanging off the arm of someone you declared a 'loser', and the fact that he abandoned you this morning without a second glance to chase after the likes of Dupain-Cheng! Oh, how that must _sting_ , that you're a loser even to the 'losers'...”

Chloé seethed. Her chest heaving, her face red and blotchy, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, her shoulders up by her ears. “...Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous,” she insisted, barely more than a whisper to herself. She looked from Aurore, nearly as much of a queen as herself, to the ever righteous Alya, to the once meek and now oddly beloved Marinette, and finally to the one person who hadn't spoken up against her but who was quickly becoming Adrien's closest companion, Nino. She was outnumbered, they were all watching each other's backs, and suddenly she had no power over them.

Recognizing a situation as lost when she saw it as so, Chloé stuck her nose in the air, turned sharply on her heal, and marched away. “Let's go, Sabrina, before we get infected by loser.”

There was a beat after their antagonizers left that the two girls remained standing, before sinking back into their seats. “You shouldn't listen to her,” Marinette insisted. “Chloé says things to get under people's skin, to make them hurt because she can, but it's not real. You put in a lot of work, and got so far. That in itself was a great accomplishment that nothing anyone says can ever take from you. So, you should be proud of yourself.”

Aurore watched the blunette across from her with calculating eyes, trying to understand what was going on, trying to ensure she was picking up every behaviour so she could find that secret trigger that would make Adrien fall for her. So, never really one to be shy, Aurore just asked. “Why are you doing this? I've done nothing but pick on you and harass you for years now, and yet here you are throwing yourself between me and someone picking on me. Shouldn't you just be sitting back and enjoying the show while I'm dished what's coming to me?”

Suddenly the shutters behind Marinette's eyes close, and Aurore can see how very tempting such a thing would be to the bullied girl. But after a minute of gathering her thoughts, Marinette breathes deep, straitening her posture and squaring her shoulders. “Because it's not _right_. It's not good for anyone to feel bad, especially in these times with all the akuma running around. I promised myself I would put an end to Chloé's reign of terror in this school, and if I started cherry picking who got treated nicely and who got bullied off of personal vendettas against people, I would be no better than Chloé herself. No. The only right way to do this is for everyone to always try and help each other out. Because everyone needs help some times, and that's normal, we can't afford to let the hard times get us down.”

Aurore felt her jaw go slack as she looked—really looked for the first time in years—at the girl the school chose to ostracize because Chloé had said so. Because she was clumsy and broke things. Because she had spilled things or tripped on people. Because it was just so easy to make themselves feel big when they could trample someone that no one would chastise them for grinding down. That she sat there so proud and regal, sound in her convictions despite what everyone had done to her.

How strong was Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Was this what Adrien saw and was so attracted to? This selfless, kind, optimistic person that never seemed to learn to just roll over and give up like she ought to. Could Aurore become like that herself? Did she have it in her to find that kind of strength? 

“Amen, sister!” Alya declared. “And I get what you're going through, Aurore. When I lost my shot at the position, I was devastated. I just sat and cried and cried. But then I realized, that KIDZ+ thing? It wasn't the only path to my dream of being a journalist. It wasn't even the most realistic path. One kid, out of five-thousand? The odds were so astronomically small, that's like, less than one percent! Just because I couldn't get there that way, that doesn't mean that's the only road to get to my dreams. And it doesn't have to be yours, either.”

“Yeah, dreams are something that are sometimes hard to fight for, and often aren't going to come in the way we would like or even expect. But that doesn't mean we can't still fight for them, even if others don't see the dream as realistic or whatever. My bro, Adrien, taught me that. He said I don't have to give up, just because people told me I couldn't do it. If I keep working at it, I can find a way,” Nino added for the first time that conversation.

Aurore looked down at her lap, taking in what each of them were saying to her. “...You're right. I mean, it's not like I even wanted to be a reporter, I just thought it was a good way to get my foot in the door to being an idol. You know, get my face on television and all. If people didn't like me as a weather girl, fine! There are all sorts of ways to become an idol!”

And Marinette was right. People had loved her enough to get her to the final round. 18,000 people still liked her more than Mireille! She could still hold her head high and pursue her dreams following some other path, and maybe if she did this and proved how great she really could be, Adrien would come to love her most of all! So with a new fire burning in her eyes, and her confident smirk back in place, Aurore ate lunch and chatted with the likes of the disaster girl and her strange friends.

~*~

Marinette sat quietly in her seat, eyes flicking between her sketchbook and the clock. The last half of the class today had been dedicated to getting the homework assignment done, a simple one page quiz about the book they were reading for literary class. She had read the chapter ahead to Manon as a bedtime story after lunch on Saturday and so finished the assignment quickly because she didn't need to read the book to fill out the paperwork. Now she was on her own quiet time. Her tablet with the answers was pushed to the corner of her desk in case Mlle Bustier wanted to check why she wasn't working on it. But Marinette was far more focused on the commission she had waiting for her at home.

It was already Monday afternoon, and the commission had to be finished by Wednesday morning. She hadn't managed to get the work done on it that she was hoping to on Saturday, and Sunday was her day to help out down in the bakery, and so now she was behind schedule. If she couldn't get the costume finished by the time the person came to pick it up the day after tomorrow, not only would she not get paid for any of her work, she'd be out the price of materials used to make the outfit in the first place. And seeing as she only took this commission because she was short on funds for her next few projects anyway, loosing money was extremely counterproductive, not to mention highly unprofessional.

And growing up living and working in a family-run business, she understood completely the importance of professionalism to maintain one's company image. If she hurried home right after class, and only took the time to do the homework that was due the following day, she could probably manage to get it done. Especially if she stayed up a few extra hours to work on it tonight. She'd be tired the next day, of course, but she was sure she could manage it.

To stop herself from fidgeting too much with her impatience to get home, she scribbled more on her design. She wasn't really focusing on it too heavily, but with autumn on the way and all the weather-girl stuff over the weekend and Manon on her mind, she ended up designing her a new raincoat. A bright yellow one, with typical matching hat, and coloured ribbons along the bottom and cuffs as trim. Like a little rainbow of greens and blues and pinks and purples. All of Manon's favourite colours. And then some of that decorative stitching... Not anything to hold it together, but there was that one cam she had of the little ducks in a row. If she aligned it right it could almost look like they were swimming on the ribbons as water.

The bell rang and Marinette was up out of her seat, sweeping her sketchbook into her bag and running out the door without looking back. Alya just shook her head at her scatterbrained friend, packing up more slowly as she had nothing pressing to do. Alya was about to leave when she noticed a tablet sitting on the opposite edge of the desk. “Oh, Marinette...” she sighed again, going over and grabbing her friend's tablet. 

Making sure everything was saved before turning it off, Alya stepped out of the classroom and pulled out her phone. Quickly searching through her contacts, she pulled up Marinette's number and hit the dial button. However, it barely rang once when it went to voicemail instead. “ _It's Marinette, leave a message. Beep! Hehe,_ ” her phone said at her. Rolling her eyes, Alya put the phone away and went to the locker room. No Marinette. She headed into the bathrooms, thinking maybe that was why her friend was in such a rush to leave class, but again nothing.

Heading out into the courtyard to take a look around, Alya noticed some of the girls from their class standing about chatting. She approached them, though they weren't among her friends. “Uhh, have you guys seen Marinette anywhere?” she asked. Rose and Juleka exchanged looks before turning back to Alya with shakes of their heads before returning to their own conversation.

Sighing, Alya figured the girl had gone home already and so she went to the locker room to gather her things. She'd just swing by the bakery on her way out, maybe pick up a treat for her and her sisters to save on having to make an afternoon snack. It was as she was thinking about what she could pick up that everyone would like that movement caught the corner of her eye. As she watched, she noticed Chloé standing by her locker looking around as if to make sure no one was watching. Curiosity perked at what the bully could be doing so secretively, Alya jumped back and spied around the edge of the lockers to find out.

Chloé sorted away her school things she wouldn't need. She was going to be going over to Sabrina's today now that school was out so they could watch the newest Majestia interview and then play Ladybug and Chat Noir again. She had even brought her Ladybug cosplay with her that she had made from only the most official looking fabrics. Ever since the heroes debut, several textile companies had been in a race to try and make a ladybug print of whatever material her uniform had been made out of. No one had succeeded yet, but the company she had ordered the fabric from had come closest, with a fine spandex weave that they silk-screened on a metallic hexagon pattern to.

Then there was the act of making sure it was sewn correctly, which Jean-Blanch had been put in charge of ensuring, and getting the proper earrings and a yo-yo like that which actually worked... She just had a red cord to act as a belt and a clip on the back of the yo-yo so she could hold it in place like it was supposed to be, because her yo-yo wasn't real magic, but she had spent a lot of good money getting it all. But what else was to be expected, Chloé, after being saved twice by Ladybug, was of course her biggest fan, and therefore no expense should be too great to show her appreciation. 

Sabrina was still working on the script, but once they got their roles down, they were going to make a Ladybug and Chat Noir movie and give it to Adrichou for Christmas. She could even get the hotel staff to be the extras and have her and Sabrina's dads as cameos for that extra bit of realism. Surely all of that would make up for a little thing like her forgetting his birthday, right? He had to know she loved him, even if her memory wasn't the best sometimes...

Once everything was out of her bags that she didn't need, she quickly transferred the suit and props into her purse that she had left that morning in her locker lest someone accidentally see them. Not that she'd ever be ashamed to be Ladybug's number one fan, but it was considered socially acceptable to look down on cosplayers as weird creepy fetishy geeks. Not exactly an image she wanted aimed at her as the daughter of the Style Queen. If such a thing got out, she was sure her mother would never return again. Once she had everything she needed, Chloé closed and locked her locker, put her bag over her shoulder, and headed out to find Sabrina.

Alya stood a moment more, trying to process what she had just seen and what it meant about their school-yard bully. This was big, this was huge, this was monumental! She needed someone to talk to about this, she needed her friend. Quickly grabbing her things out of her locker, she headed out to the front of the school. She saw Chloé and Sabrina climbing into the back of her white limousine and driving away. Could it really be real?

She pulled out her phone again and dialed her best friend, getting voicemail once more. “Hey, Marinette? Call me back as soon as you can, we need to talk!” Alya insisted, then saved the message. She was just putting her phone away when she saw Nino walking past. Before she really realized what she was doing, her hand snapped out and closed around his wrist. They weren't even that close, but she just needed someone right now, and he was who was there. “Nino, wait!”

“What?” he asked, smiling slightly at the new girl holding his arm. 

“Come with me, I need your help!” she insisted, dragging him off somewhere secluded that they wouldn't be overheard. This was sensitive information, after all.

She lead him away, all the way down to the Seine, where they finally came to a stop on a bench on the bank. It was a good half kilometre from the school, and on the road above was enough cars driving by to drown out their voices from any passers-by. They stepped up to the bench, pigeons scattering at their feet, and sat down. “So--” Nino tried to begin, but she held a finger up to his lips and shushed him as she tried to call Marinette once more.

“ _It's Marinette, leave a message, beep_!” played again and Alya looked at her phone in frustration as she ended the call.

“Ugh, she gets on my nerves when she disappears like that!” Alya complained with a sigh. “She doesn't even call me back! Where is she, again?!”

“Seriously, with my bro Adrien, it's the same! But, well, it has to be said, his père doesn't give him a lot of free time,” Nino confided. 

Alya pulled up her blog on her phone, clicking the link to the video she had spent most of Sunday compiling, and then scrolling to the end, where thankful news casters and production crews had gathered around the Paris heroes as they were leaving the building and tried to get interviews. She paused the camera on the image where Ladybug had nervously waved at the camera, her yo-yo in hand right before she had dashed away with earrings beeping. 

Alya stared hard at the yo-yo, remembering back to the one that Chloé had been putting into her bag and comparing them. Right down to the placement and number of spots, size of the yo-yo, everything was identical. Her face broke into a manic grin as Nino looked over at her curiously, wondering still why he was here. “I think I _finally_ discovered who's really Ladybug!” she practically squealed, pulling out Marinette's tablet and a sticky note to scribble her friend a message. 

Nino watched her curiously, interested in the news for more that it was an unknown fact than any real curiosity about the heroes themselves. Not that he disliked them, but he had kind of grown out of the phase where he dreamed of heroes a few years back. But then Alya leaned over and whispered her theory in his ear, and all Nino could do was laugh. “Chloé? Seriously? No, but, she's way too self-absorbed to think about other people. So saving the world... You're really on the wrong track!” he tried to explain, putting a consoling hand on the new girl's shoulder.

“I'm telling you, it's her!” Alya argued stubbornly, digging her heals in as he objected. “You'll see!”

~*~

Marinette's sewing machine hummed so loudly she didn't hear the knock on her door, nor her mother coming in, it wasn't until the extra loud call of “Marinette!” came from behind her that she realized she wasn't alone anymore. Finishing up the hemline, the young girl stopped the machine and turned to Sabine's expectant gaze. “Alya brought your tablet home for you, Marinette.”

“Oops, sorry about that,” Marinette said, taking the tablet from her mother's outstretched hand.

“Make sure you thank her properly!” Sabine scolded. “You seem so forgetful these days. Maybe you just need some fresh air and extra exercise for that growing brain of yours!”

“Good idea, Maman. I'll start tomorrow,” Marinette assured, setting the tablet aside with barely a glance at the fact there was a note attached. She'd look at it once she finished attaching the sleeves to the body of the jacket. It was probably something about that morning, anyway, and that wasn't something she wanted to touch on while she still had work to do, if ever. “But right now I have to finish this commission.”

“Alright, dear, as long as you get your homework finished as well,” her mother consented, giving the top of Marinette's head a kiss before heading back down the stairs. 

Marinette was moving the other arm of the jacket in place to be sewn on when Tikki's voice interrupted her. “Um, Marinette...? I think you should come see this...”

Rolling her chair over to her tablet, concerned by Tikki's tone of voice, Marinette read the sticky note aloud. “What is it? 'Call me. I have _huge_ Ladybug news'?” What could she mean? Marinette had a moment of panic, before shaking sense back into herself. Huge Ladybug news could mean just about anything, after all.

“You think she knows?” Tikki questioned.

After a moment of thinking, Marinette just shook her head. “I doubt it. If she heard Manon over the weekend, she'd have confronted me then. And if she knew it was me, why just hand the tablet with a sticky note on it to Maman, instead of trying to find an excuse to come and see me herself? Knowing Alya, it's probably just some theory about how Ladybug is secretly an alien that fell to Earth as a baby or something. She tends to jump to conclusions before making sure she's got all her facts strait. Remember that three-page article about radio-active ladybugs?”

“But just in case...” the kwami cautioned.

“Don't worry, Tikki. I'll take care of it right away,” Marinette assured, grabbing her phone. She pulled up Alya's number and hit dial, but a moment later the icon changed to show the call failed to go through. Marinette looked at the phone and grumbled, “Shoot, no signal.”

Climbing up onto her loft bed and out on to her balcony, the blunette began wandering around holding her phone at different heights and in different places, trying to find somewhere with a signal. She was starting to get frustrated when a voice called out to her. “Sorry, Mademoiselle. The antennae is under maintenance, there's no signal in the entire neighbourhood.”

Looking over the edge of a wall, Marinette saw an electrician decked out in safety gear, his tools open beside him, and the panel at the bottom of the transmitter pulled off. “Oh, okay. Thank you,” Marinette said. Well, so much for calling Alya.

“Come on, Marinette. Try again later. Let's head down and finish your homework,” Tikki urged.

~*~

Tuesday was another lovely morning, if a little chilly. There was a peppering of clouds in the sky, but no chance of rain it seemed. The white limousine pulled up to the curb and Sabrina hurried forward to open the door for Chloé. The blond stepped out, greeting the students milling about with a smile and a wave. “Hello, everybody~! Hi! Nice look today,” she complimented a red haired boy as she passed him, causing him to straiten his shirt with a blush. Her eyes then landed on Aurore. “Er, no, not you. Halloween's next month, you know.”

As Chloé continued her parade into the school, Sabrina trailing along behind her with their school bags, Alya and Nino watched from the corner, completely flying under her radar. “Your stuff doesn't add up, Alya,” Nino tried to convince the reporter. “If _she's_ a superheroine, I'm the big bad Papillon!”

“I'm telling you, she's Ladybug!” Alya insisted, refusing to be dissuaded.

“Can you prove it?” Nino challenged.

He should have kept his big mouth shut, he realized, as ten minutes later they were hiding together in the locker room as Chloé got her stuff together for class with a hair-brained scheme that was almost guaranteed to fail. But as Alya grabbed his face with both her hands and pulled it forward, a glare on her features, he couldn't quite bring himself to argue with her. “Okay, don't forget your lines!” she demanded. 

She was truly a force of nature, like a hurricane. He dared not disobey lest he face a wrath of unknown proportions. Women in general could be scary, but Alya's determination seemed to take her to a whole other level. And so against his better judgment, Nino found himself stumbling towards Chloé, trying to catch his balance after Alya had shoved him. He bumped into the lockers before he managed to catch himself and hurried to correct his posture. “Uh... L-Ladybug! Look over there!” he said, pointing in a random direction.

Chloé gave him that look that said how much of an idiot she thought you are and how you had the next five seconds to explain why you were worth her time or she would make your life a living hell. “What is this, some lousy joke?”

“Er-er-no-I mean, did you see Ladybug on Saturday?” Nino tried again, leaning in close and taking a conspiratorial tone. “Isn't she amazing?! I wonder who she could be...”

Unphased and unimpressed, Chloé put her hand on Nino's face and pushed him away. “Er, what did you have for breakfast, Nino? Honestly, go easy on the orange juice.”

During all of this rather embarrassing conversation, Alya had been sneaking her way closer to Chloé and her locker, phone out and at the ready. Once she got a good angle, she snapped a photograph, but at the shutter click sound, everyone froze. Sabrina, who was just making her way over from her own locker, saw Alya's pose and heard the sound, and was the first to make a connection of what just happened. “Ah, Chloé! Alya took a picture of your locker!” she announced, and not quietly.

Alya jumped and hurried to try and hide the evidence, “Ugh, you-you dirty liar! I-I didn't do anything at all!”

Lê Chiến Kim was many things. While some may call him a bully, he liked to think of himself as the sort of guy that never quit pushing himself, and wasn't afraid to prove he was on top. And if being on top meant he made sure every other boy their year knew their place below him with his fists, so be it. (Except Adrien, that model boy put him a little off-kilter. He didn't know why but he had the distinct impression that even if he could take the pretty blond in a fight, it wouldn't end in his favour.) But Kim was not a thug. No, he never picked on girls, because a man who hits a girl was either just a mindless violent thug, or a sissy who was too weak to take on a real man.

But he was also protective, and Chloé was his friend. They had been close as young children, having gone to the same schools since preschool, and often been in the same class. And ever since it started being okay again for boys and girls to talk to each other, their relationship had returned to being a rather strong one. So girl or not, the sight of someone harassing his friend was enough to make Kim step forward and forcefully take the phone Alya was trying to hide from behind her back. 

He held it up high as she tried to jump for it, smirking at his superior reach. “Hey! Give it back!” Alya objected, but he knew she wouldn't be acting this way if she were innocent, and so handed the phone over to Chloé instead.

A few quick taps, and Chloé presented the evidence for all to see. “Who's the 'dirty liar' now?” she challenged.

~*~

M Damocles blinked as a procession of four teens entered his office before even the first bell rang. The fact the group was headed by Chloé Bourgeois just screamed more trouble than he really wanted to deal with this early on a Tuesday. Chloé sat herself down in a chair self-importantly on one side, and a dark skinned girl M Damocles barely recognized sat down in the other. Chloé's friend and the troublemaker Kim just stood behind Chloé's chair in support. A cellphone was handed over with a picture of Chloé at her locker.

He looked at the picture, then looked up at the children that had accumulated themselves. He had a sinking suspicion he knew where this was going already, but asked anyway. “And to what do I owe this unscheduled visit?”

Chloé, of course, jumped in immediately with the accusations. “She's guilty of invasion of privacy! I have proof!”

“What?! Seriously! All I did was take a measly photo!” the other girl argued.

“I'm sorry, Mlle Bourgeois, but I can't punish a student for a simple picture of a locker...” M Damocles attempted to explain.

Chloé floundered. “But-She broke into my locker!” the Mayor's daughter insisted. 

“Ugh! That's not true! I didn't touch her locker! It was open!” the other girl argued.

“And nothing was stolen?” he checked, just to make sure.

Chloé pushed herself to her feet with her hands on the principle's desk, seething with raw rage. “She stole a part of my soul! My sanctity... my peace of mind! My locker is my secret garden! A place I can shelter that which is precious to me, away from the scrutiny of others! And Alya Césaire stole that from me by invading my privacy and photographing it without my permission!” Having grown too emotional, Chloé turned and flung herself into Kim's chest, sobbing.

Kim encircled the blond girl in a protective hug, glaring daggers at Alya for hurting her so badly. Alya just rolled her eyes in disgust at such melodramatics, wondering how anyone could eat this garbage up. Clearing his throat, M Damocles announced, “Okay, well, you have an hour of detention... Alya?” He thought that was the name Chloé had used.

Alya looked ready to contest such an absurd punishment for something so harmless, but Chloé beat her to it. “Surely, I didn't hear you correctly! Don't tell me you're going to let her off with just a measly hour of detention for a-a heinous crime! Sabrina!” she demanded, snapping her fingers for the little redhead to step forward.

As usual, Sabrina Raincomprix was almost scarily prepared. The policeman's daughter had with her the complete write up of school rules and already had the page turned to the one she wanted. “As you see here, the school rules clearly stipulate that any act of vandalism will be punished by one week of suspension.”

“Certainly, but this is hardly what could be considered vandalism,” M Damocles tried to reason.

“According to Article 9 of French Civil Code, taking photographs of a person—especially a minor—without their knowledge or consent is an illegal act in France. Surely breaking the law on school property is at least worth an equivalent punishment?” Sabrina challenged.

“Well, now, I-uh...” M Damocles fumbled, trying to find an appropriate response to this.

“I'm sure my _Papa_ would be _very_ interested in hearing about how the man in charge of one of Paris's most prestigious schools, where several child celebrities attend, is unwilling to abide by the French Civil Code...” Chloé warned, holding her cellphone aloft for all to see she had her father ready to be called.

“Now, now, Chloé, let's not bother your papa—I mean, the honourable Mayor with a minor locker situation...” M Damocles tried to dissuade. Chloé pressed the call button and turned away, putting her phone to her ear. “Er-er-what I meant to say was--” he cleared his throat. “You are suspended for a week, Alya.”

As Chloé ended the call with a satisfied smile, Alya jumped to her feet in rage. “What?! That is so unfair! I am so gonna protest this on the school blog!”

Chloé just held her phone out to remind the principal what sort of thin ice he was on, and the man sighed. “The school blog is hereby closed until further notice...”

Alya wanted to scream in disbelief of the corruption she was seeing unfold before her. “Talk about a superheroine! More like a super-liar, yeah?” Having said her peace, Alya snatched up her phone and stormed out.

~*~

The sunlight through her window in her face stirred Marinette awake. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, and trying to turn away from the light, she groaned at the horribly uncomfortable way her back ached. She had apparently fallen asleep at her desk sometime where the late hours of the night became the early hours of the morning. Struggling to sit up and pop her spine back into it's proper place, she apparently made enough noise to wake Tikki, who had been sleeping curled up in a nest of fabric scraps beside her.

“Uh... what time is it?” the little red kwami asked.

Marinette fumbled for her tablet, flicking the screen to check. “Class starts in...” the screen came on and the clock showed 9:45, “ _an hour ago_!” she suddenly panicked, dashing to get changed and out the door.

~*~

“Ah, collège... Truly, a scientific laboratory. Where we grow many kinds of emotions, secrets, lies, and betrayals. Fly away, little akuma, and darken their heart!”

~*~

As Marinette ran into the courtyard and dashed up the stairs towards class, Alya was storming down the opposite stairwell, no longer welcome on school grounds. Neither girl was focusing on their surroundings, worried only about their own problems, and so failed to notice the other in passing. 

Alya ran to the park and hid behind some bushes, where no one would be able to see her shame. She lifted her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she pulled up Marinette's number. She never called her back the night before, and though it flashed briefly in Alya's mind that she'd probably be in class right now, she hit the call button anyway. She needed this. Needed her friend, someone that would listen to her side of the story without judging her or believing lies. 

But when all it did was go strait to voicemail, Alya hit the end call button in frustration and curled in on herself to cry. 

~*~

This... this was better than he had ever imagined. He had originally sent the akuma after the child in the school because that's where his disobedient son was. He would prove to the boy that he was right about the world being too dangerous by drowning him to his ears with monsters in every direction. The boy would see he was right and come crawling back into his protection without question, under his thumb where he should be, where Papillon would be able to control what he saw and heard so he would get all these stupid rebellious thoughts from his mind.

But this... that self-proclaimed journalist and her little blog, to discredit her petulant rebellion against his reign, cut out a pillar of support for the heroes, spread fear and distrust all in one swoop would be more than worth the effort of akumatizing her. But more than that, he could tell, this girl had discovered Ladybug's identity! He could target her as a civilian, reveal her to the world, and swallow her up in so much paparazzi and media coverage she couldn't even move. Then with Ladybug down, there would be no one left to get rid of his akuma, so that annoying and immature pest Chat Noir would soon fall as well.

This was his victory, this was his decisive strike, this... this was the day he won. “Lady WiFi... I heard you wanted to unmask Ladybug. I would like to help you, if you do me a favour.”

“ _I will denounce the lies of all those who try to hide the truth! Stay connected!_ ” he heard the girl rage as the darkness seeped from her phone and transformed her.

~*~

Carefully turning the handle all the way and nudging the door open, Marinette flinched at the sound of it creaking too loudly on it's hinges for the silent room. She peeked her head around the wood to see Mlle Bustier writing on the chalkboard with rhythmic clicks. Easing up the side isle and sliding across the bench, she took her seat and tried to look like she had always been there so not to get in trouble. 

But quickly she became curious about the empty seat beside her. Was Alya sick or something? Knowing she would never get the question out to Adrien, and having no one else close enough by her to ask discreetly, Marinette scooted over to the middle of the bench and leaned down to tap Nino's shoulder. When he looked back at her questioningly, she whispered, “Where is she?” She gestured to where Alya usually was to make her question more clear.

Nino carefully leaned back and responded in like, “She got suspended.”

Marinette pulled back in shock. “What?!” she demanded, forgetting that she was supposed to be keeping her voice down and thus startling the whole class and drawing the teacher's attention to herself.

“Marinette, when we come in late for classes, we avoid drawing attention to ourselves,” Mlle Bustier scolded.

“Sorry...” Marinette muttered, face flushed and slowly sank back into her seat. She tried to focus on the board, on her school work, but her mind just kept ruminating on what Nino had said to the point that she couldn't focus on anything else. So, after about ten minutes of trying, Marinette leaned over and tapped Nino's shoulder again. “What happened?”

Nino checked the Mlle Bustier was really distracted before he leaned back and whispered, “Okay, long story short, she was accused of sneaking into Chloé's locker. She was looking for evidence Chloé is Ladybug.”

“What?!” Marinette shrieked, repeating her reaction from before to nearly identical results.

“Enough, Marinette, go see the principal now!” Mlle Bustier snapped, pointing at the door.

Knowing she had screwed up, Marinette grabbed her bag and slunk out of the room towards M Damocles's office. Meanwhile, a very confused Adrien leaned over to whisper at Nino. Chloé being his Lady? There was no way such a thing was possible. For as lovable as his childhood friend was, and despite having proposed to her when they were children, he knew her too well to ever believe she was one in the same as his soulmate. There were way too many inconsistencies, and not just physically. 

“What's this all about?” he asked. If Alya had really gone through Chloé's things... as child celebrities they already had so little privacy, and after that bit with the stalker pedophile when they were eleven, he knew she was more sensitive about it than even he was.

“That's what I'm telling you, dude. Alya thinks Chloé is Ladybug, she's lost it!” Nino replied.

Adrien looked over at Chloé, only to find his friend already watching him. She winked when she noticed his eyes on her, and otherwise looked okay. Still confused and conflicted, Adrien returned to his work.

~*~

Marinette knocked on the office door, “M Principal?” She waited a beat, but got no response. Carefully opening the door she tentatively peaked in. “Monsieur?” she called again as she started to enter. M Damocles sat frozen in place, one arm reaching out and mouth open like he was trying to say something. Over his chest was a glowing circle with a solid square in the middle, similar to a stop button on a media player. 

As soon as this registered in her mind, Marinette recoiled in fear with a gasp. After a moment of nothing happening, she stepped forward cautiously to examine the head of her school. She was waving a hand in front of his face when she noticed his computer screen flick on. It looked almost like Alya, only with purple eyes and dressed in a superhero-like costume.

Unknown to her, across the city the same image popped up at the same time on every device connected to the internet and capable of transmitting a video feed. “I am Lady WiFi, upholder of the truth. Scoop number one: your principle has a little secret to confess. So, M Damocles?” The camera zoomed back to show her leaning up against his shoulder as he cowered before the akuma. “It seems you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today. Anything you'd like to say to the audience?”

“Er, yes, it's true...” he confirmed.

“So, you admit you were biased? Arbitrary? _Completely unfair_!?” she badgered.

“Yes, I admit it,” M Damocles said. But to Marinette, it looked more like someone saying things because they feared for their safety instead of it actually being true. She had seen that look before from people who were being bullied, after all.

“Oh, no! Alya! Tikki, time to transform!” Marinette insisted.

“Marinette! Your principal is right there! What if he can see and hear you?!” Tikki tried to warn.

“But he's frozen! And Alya needs me! I have to save my best friend!” Marinette argued back. “Tikki, transform moi!” 

As the red light faded and Ladybug stood where Marinette once was, Lady WiFi was already talking about her next subject. “For my next scoop, I'll take you to meet the girl hidden behind Ladybug's mask.” She then flicked the stop symbol at the principal from her phone and he froze before the video feed cut out.

Within the classroom, Mlle Bustier told the room, “Listen everyone, for your safety, go home immediately. Oh, and don't forget to read chapters four and five!”

As everyone crowded out of the classroom, phones out calling for rides where applicable, Adrien took a moment to pull Chloé aside. “Are you okay? Are-are you really...?” was it safe to leave her? Even long enough to go lock himself in his room and run back to her as Chat Noir? 

“I'm fine, Adrichou,” she told him before turning her eyes forward once more. But he could see, this wasn't his friend's normal 'fine', this was her look that she got when trying to put on the image of nothing being wrong. Shoulders back, head held high, like nothing in existence could affect her right now. It was a front, a coping mechanism, to hide from the world just how injured she was. Just as fake a mask as his model smiles, and he wouldn't break it on her. He'd come and hold her in private later, where she could cry every bit of herself out, but right now he had to be Chat Noir and save her from the akuma attack.

~*~

Chat Noir had been sitting for the last ten minutes on the rooftop across from Hôtel Le Grand Paris, watching over Chloé with his baton's camera function. She had dressed herself up in a well-made Ladybug cosplay outfit, and was putting her years of ballet and interpretive dance classes to good use by putting together a routine. This was her third iteration of it, as she tried to dance with the yo-yo she had like it were a gymnastics ribbon, but it wasn't working out well. 

This time around she had seemingly opted to just swing the yo-yo around in big circles, similar to when Ladybug did her shield. It looked like it was working better, and Chat was amusing himself with trying to tell what the story she was attempting to portray was, when a voice startled him from his thoughts. “It's not nice to spy on people,” Ladybug scolded.

Chat jumped, turning and half-expecting to be facing an akuma, only to let himself wilt once more when he saw who it was. “Oh, it's you, Milady...” he sighed, then realized what his actions must have looked like to someone outside. “But--”

She laughed before he could explain. “You weren't _seriously_ thinking _she_ was Ladybug, were you?” The mocking way she talked about it rubbed him the wrong way, despite his own earlier thoughts mirroring her sentiments. Something about her tone was almost disbelieving, as though Chloé wasn't capable of being a hero to Ladybug's calibre. But no, this was his Lady, she couldn't possibly think so poorly of someone like his friend. It was probably just for all the reasons he already knew they weren't the same. 

“Yeah, of course not,” he tried to laugh off as Chloé lost track of her yo-yo and ended up getting it tangled around her legs. “After all, you've saved the Mayor's daughter multiple times now. But the akuma doesn't know that, so we have to stand guard.”

“Honestly. Who'd be stupid enough to believe _this_ girl is Ladybug? She's most likely a simple admirer. Kinda like you, you know...” she teased suggestively at the end.

“If you say so,” Chat shrugged. “Though I'm not sure I could pull off the red so well, it kind of clashes with my eyes...”

Chloé meanwhile was on her back, struggling to get her legs untangled. Across the room, in her purse, her phone started ringing. It wasn't Sabrina's ringtone, nor Adrien's or her father's, so she wasn't really sure what it could be about. Still, she pushed herself into a standing position and bunny-hopped over to her purse. Taking out her cell, she lifted it to her ear. “Hello?”

There was no answer, so Chloé pulled it away to make sure she had a connection still, when she noticed her phone screen glowing pink. Freaking out, she threw it as hard as she could across the room to the far wall, hoping if she broke it, or at least got it away from her, it would stop. However, her throwing strength when unable to use her legs and trying to maintain her balance with her torso wasn't that strong and the phone bounced to a stop on the other side of her coffee table instead.

The glow got brighter until the akuma materialized above her phone. “Well, hello there, _Ladybug_!” Chloé screamed and tried to flee, but was hit in the back with a pause icon.

Across the street, the real Ladybug was alerted by the scream. “That's it! We got her! Let's go!” and with that the heroes jumped into action.

Meanwhile, Lady WiFi shot out a camera icon to record her moment of triumph. She stepped up beside the blond dressed in the Ladybug costume and addressed the camera. “Would you look at that? It looks like I called the correct number...” With a snap of her fingers, a projection appeared over Hôtel Le Grand Paris as her broadcast was sent live to all of Paris. “You all think the one hiding behind the Ladybug mask is a nice girl... But you're wrong!” She turned and stripped the mask off Chloé's face. “And Ladybug is... Chloé Bourgeois!”

That was the moment Chat Noir kicked in Chloé's patio doors and both him and Ladybug leapt into the room in fighting stances. Lady WiFi gasped in surprise, looking a moment between Chloé and the real deal, before demanding, “Who are you?” The heroes looked at each other in bafflement over her question. They even relaxed out of their fighting stances. While Ladybug just kind of stared slack-jawed, Chat Noir proved himself a dork by pulling some superhero and strongman poses. Lady WiFi put a hand to her forehead. “But I thought _she_ was Ladybug!”

“Sorry, but, your scoop is flawed. Next time, check your sources better,” Chat jibed, acting as though he were telling her some big secret.

“Okay, change of plans!” Lady WiFi swiped an ex across her phone screen, causing the icons to disappear, and the moment they did Chloé went tumbling forward, still screaming, and landed in a heap. 

“Alya!” Ladybug called.

“Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady WiFi. Breaking news! Ladybug, it's time to know who you really are!” she insisted, shooting out a pair of pause icons. 

The Parisian heroes dodged her attacks before Ladybug called, “Follow me!” and darted towards the doors and out past Lady WiFi.

“So what's the plan?” Chat Noir asked as they ran through the halls of the hotel.

“Her power comes from her phone! We're going to drag her to the basement where there's no signal!” Ladybug explained as they made it into the stairwell.

“Down to the basement? In that case...” Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug's arm and pulled her to a stop. She turned as though to ask him what he thought he was doing, but he took out his baton and extended it over the railing until it reached all the way to the bottom floor. Slipping his arm around her waist, he pulled his Lady flush against his chest and for a moment froze, his breath caught in his throat.

He wanted to remember this. The look of her, almost nose to nose with him, staring up with her wide blue eyes, mouth hanging open slightly in a cute little 'oh'. He wanted to be able to pull this moment up in his mind, polish it like a diamond and treasure it like it deserved. But he knew it would fade, become foggy and impossible to hold. The way her eyebrows crinkled up in the middle, every freckle across her rosy cheeks, the feel of her chest rising and falling against his own, the touch of air against his lips with every sweet, tantalizing breath she took.

But he couldn't keep it, just like he couldn't keep the sight of her sprawled out beneath him. And there wasn't even time to treasure it now. The most he could do is remember that it happened, without a single detail of how beautiful she looked, as he swung his legs over the railing and pulled her across his lap. With a simple push of a button, they descended far faster than they could have run, her arms latched instinctively around his neck, nose buried against his jaw. He landed on the balls of his feet and eased down into a crouch so not to jar her with their touch down. 

For a beat he wished lasted for an eternity, they stayed like that, her in his lap, his arm around her midsection, her arms looped around his neck, and her face pressed against the underside of his ear. But then she started pulling back, looked up as though to say something to him, before her eyes locked on to something behind him in terror. She barely got a gasp out and he was springing forward, still carrying her against him, as a pause icon hit the floor where they had been a split second before. 

“You won't escape from me, Ladybug!” the akuma called down after them.

Finally getting her own feet back under her, Ladybug lead the way through the door and out into the underground parking lot. They positioned themselves hurriedly for an ambush, weapons at the ready to jump out and attack. But as the minutes ticked by with no akuma in sight, a sinking suspicion filled their minds.

“Say, what do you do in life? You know, when you're not Ladybug?” Chat Noir asked one of the many burning questions within him as they waited.

“Unbelievable...” Ladybug groaned out, face in her hand. “You really think this is the best time to talk about this?!”

“It's not like I can see you other times. A guy's got to take what he's got,” Chat reasoned with a shrug.

“ _Really_ Chat, they're called _secret_ identities for a reason!” she argued back.

“But...! If it's _you_ , it's okay, right? We're in this together, so...” Chat practically begged, desperate to be closer to the love of his life.

“But what if one of us is akumatized? It would compromise us both!” Ladybug reasoned.

“Then after we defeat Le Papillon...?” he asked, a spark of hope flickering in his chest. Plagg had said once they knew who each other were the glamour would be lifted and they'd clearly see each other in all those glorious moments. And he wanted to keep it, so badly he wanted to treasure every second with his Lady. But already he could feel the image fading, he couldn't quite recall exactly what her eyes looked like as they searched his. He didn't want to loose it, like he lost the taste of her after he accidentally kissed her cheek last Saturday. Like he lost the sound of her calling him _her_ minou. 

“I don't know. Maybe? It depends on the situation!” Ladybug insisted, annoyed and exasperated at his persistence after she had already shut him down once.

Chat leaned his head back against the side of the car he was using for cover. “'Maybe'... she said ' _maybe_ '. It isn't a 'no',” he said to himself, so silent he wasn't even sure himself if there was sound to the words, or if his lips were just going through the motions. It was enough. It had to be. It was all she was willing to give him, so he would have to learn to make do. But if she wouldn't tell him anything about her... he turned and met her gaze once more, eyes burning with determination. “I have blond hair and green eyes!” he announced to her.

Ladybug gave him a blank stare, “Yeah...?”

His heart broke a little. So she hadn't bothered thinking about him yet enough to have even noticed the glamour was a thing. Oh... Okay... So that was also a thing. He could deal. He would have to. He swallowed down any pain he felt and pushed on regardless. “I'm a student, and I work part time as a--”

Ladybug yelped and covered her ears the moment she realized he was telling her about himself. She shouldn't be hearing about this. Quickly, she cut him off before he could say much of anything, “I don't think she's coming! We should go find her!”

“...Right,” Chat agreed, body drooping in resignation before he got up to follow her once more.

As they climbed the flights one-by-one, they found every door out of their stairwell was covered in a pink lock icon. “She locked all the doors!” Chat noted as they ran. A few floors later and he started talking again. “Hey, do you realize that maybe we know each other in real life?”

“I doubt it!” Ladybug snipped back, growing irritated at how insistent he was being. It was like the akuma insisting on uncovering her identity had put the cat-boy on a one-track mind as well. But no, back on Adrien's birthday he had been pushing to reveal their identities as well. And before that, against that akuma Alimenter, he had been trying to get her phone number. Basically from the start he had been trying to do an identity reveal. 

Ladybug slowed her pace as she rounded the corner, seeing the door not having a glowing symbol on it. “She left this one open...”

“It's probably a trap,” Chat noted.

“Oh, definitely. Get ready?” Ladybug said.

“On three...” Chat confirmed. They counted down together and then Ladybug kicked the door open. They stood at the ready a moment, looking for where the attack would come from, but only saw the empty dining hall. “Uh, _I_ was ready... but I think we forgot to tell the _akuma_ to be ready.”

“Follow me,” Ladybug told him as she started making her way around the room cautiously. “Where is she hiding...” The tables were all set with long white tablecloths that reached near the floor, that Chat was using his staff to glance under each table as they passed. The red velvet chairs were set at perfect angles from each other, but there were no plates or silverware, or even vases or candles out. Instead, in the centre of each table sat only a single cellphone. “What's with all the phones?”

No sooner had Ladybug asked that then one of the phones lit up with a pink glow and a moment later Lady WiFi stood atop the table. A flurry of pause icons had the Heroes of Paris diving apart for cover. “But why is she taking it out on me like that?” Chat whined as he jumped atop a longer party table and ran down it's length. “I thought she was after you!” He flipped a small round table on it's side and tried to hide behind it like a shield, but the force of an exploding icon sent him flying back into the wall. He cracked his head hard against the stone as he hit, falling to the floor in a daze.

Enraged at the sight of her partner being hurt, Ladybug swung her yo-yo and wrapped it around Lady WiFi's arm. She yanked hard, pulling the phone away from where she was about to attack the downed Chat. “Ha!” Lady WiFi scoffed, vanishing into pink light, only to appear on another table. “You'll never catch me!”

As the akuma began teleporting around just to show she could, Ladybug sneered. “We'll see about that...” she said, and began systematically walking between the tables, smashing her yo-yo down on each of the phones with her magically enhanced strength.

Lady WiFi, finding herself cornered, dashed into the kitchens, Ladybug close on her heals. Suddenly Lady WiFi spun around, finger above her phone, and the heroine barely had the time to dive into a roll to the side to avoid the pink blur. Chat Noir made it to the doors just as they slammed shut, a lock icon glowing over them even as he pushed with all his might. 

“No, no, no!” he screamed in panic and frustration. His Lady was trapped alone inside with an akuma hellbent on targeting her. His Lady who was not equipped for close combat. “Hang on! I'm coming, Milady!” Chat called, hoping his voice could give her courage until he found his way back to her side. 

He could try cataclysming the doors, or breaking through the wall, but both of those would likely leave them at too much of a disadvantage. He pulled up the schematics for the hotel, praying there was another way in that Lady WiFi hadn't thought to block. “Of course! The dumbwaiter!” He and Chloé had used to play with it when they were little. They had even gotten in trouble a few times for trying to ride in it. He just hoped he was still small enough to fit.

He had to take the other stairwell, but he managed to get up to the floor above. He ran over and pulled the chute open. _Here goes nothing..._

~*~

Ladybugs, apparently, really were the beacon of good luck. Out of every room she could have gotten herself locked alone in with an akuma, at least a kitchen gave her enough tools to have a fighting chance. With a pot in one hand acting as a shield, Ladybug grabbed a bottle of cooking oil from the counter. Dropping down behind the island in the middle of the room, she took a moment to remove the lid. Jumping back up, Ladybug splashed the oil towards Lady WiFi's face, aiming to blind her.

However, Lady WiFi just lifted her free arm and blocked most of the splatter, though her hand was now covered and slippery. This resulted in her touchscreen having troubles registering her flicks. Ladybug took the moment to start pulling open drawers, searching for something that might help her further. She found the sharp knives, but she didn't want to use those on her best friend, akuma or not. Skewering forks, spatulas, sifts, measuring cups, dish towels... None of it would help just now. 

Another blast managed to get off in her direction, Ladybug deflected it with her pot. A hand full of chili powder and a few other spices got blindly thrown in the general direction Lady WiFi had been, but other than a hiss of frustration, none of it really did anything to halt her friend. That was when Ladybug noticed a portable dishwasher tucked under one of the counters and got an idea. 

Pulling it out, she wheeled it along as a portable cover keeping ducked low down. She knew Alya was impatient and bold, she wouldn't be able to resist the bait for long, and sure enough a moment later Lady WiFi had leapt atop the washing machine and aimed her phone directly down at Ladybug. However, that's what the blunette had been waiting for. Her yo-yo was flying before the phone was even finished being pointed at her, wrapping around Lady WiFi's wrist and pulling her down from her perch. 

Ladybug hipchecked the washing machine into the akuma's back, pulling her arm over her head and around the corner of the washing machine, which dug into her shoulder. She then looped her magic string several times around the whole thing, tying Lady WiFi quite securely to the side of the washing machine. “I've got you now!” Ladybug stated confidently, reaching for the phone.

“Oh you think so, do you?” the akuma taunted, her thumb hovering over the screen of her cell. With a flick of the digit, a rewind icon got slapped on her magic yo-yo, which suddenly started unwinding itself before reattaching itself to her hip. Lady WiFi stood with a smirk as Ladybug paled. She clawed with one hand at her yo-yo, but it wouldn't budge. If she couldn't call on a Lucky Charm or cleanse the akuma because her yo-yo was under a spell, what was she going to do?

Lady WiFi kicked the washing machine at her, and Ladybug dove out of the way. Two more flicks blasted off against the pot she had, but she could grab another easy enough. So she threw her pot to get the akuma into the position she wanted, and then vaulted off the side of the sink into a diving tackle. Unfortunately for her, the akuma ducked low under her leap and Ladybug was forced to roll to a stop, disadvantageously stationed between two tables and up against the wall.

Two quick flicks and Ladybug's hands were locked in place by icons near her head. She struggled against them, but in the end all she could do was glare at the smug akuma who was taking her sweet time setting up the camera icon so the whole of Paris could witness her discovery. “Who _is_ Ladybug? Is she a superheroine or a supervillain? How can we trust her, when we don't even know who she is?” Lady WiFi monologued as she stepped up and took Ladybug's face in her hands. “We have the _right_ to know!”

The akuma reached forward, tugging at the mask, but despite her efforts it would not pull away from the skin. Instead it pulled her face as if it were Ladybug's skin that she was pinching instead of a cloth covering. Ladybug gave a whine of pain before the akuma finally gave up the effort. “Why doesn't it come off?!” Lady WiFi raged.

“Uhhh... because it's magic?” Ladybug supplied with a shrug. 

Just then, there was a buzzing sound and both girls looked over to see the door of the dumbwaiter slide open and Chat Noir half-uncurl himself into the room. “Your contract has expired, Lady WiFi,” he said, kicking his dangling leg. Ladybug felt relief swell within her at the sight of him.

“Ooooh, how romantic~! The chaton has come to save his little coccinelle!” the akuma cooed sarcastically.

“I'm not his little coccinelle!” Ladybug argued as though the concept were repulsive.

“That... we'll talk about it later,” Chat said, coming to stand with his staff slung over his shoulders. He winked at them, then quickly dodged a lock icon that was shot at him. A second one exploded, sending him flying into the walk-in freezer, where he hit the wall and somehow his ring fell off, skittering away across the frozen ground.

Adrien pulled him self up, looking at his right hand in horror. “My ring!” a glance at the door showed it was shut and likely locked with another icon. He shivered in his early autumn long-sleeved tee-shirt and jeans, but despite the biting cold shooting up his arms from his bare hands touching the icy ground, he continued to crawl around, searching for his Miraculous. If the door opened right now, his identity would be revealed to all of Paris. There was no way his father would let him keep Plagg, and his Lady would be alone. If the door wasn't opened, Cataclysm would be his only way out of this freezer before he died of hypothermia. 

But more than any of that, he had to find the ring fast because his Lady was alone and at the mercy of an akuma that was targeting the very thing she cared about most. That she would only maybe share with him after their battle was won once and for all. He wanted to know so badly, but not like this. It would be hollow and meaningless unless it was of her own free will. “Come on, where is it?”

Meanwhile, outside Ladybug remained at the akuma's mercy. “Right, so... what am I going to do with you two?”

A purple mask flashed over her face. “ _Take her Miraculous, without her earrings the transformation will not hold and her identity will be revealed..._ ” Grinning at the suggestion, Lady WiFi stepped forward to do just that. However, Ladybug's luck hadn't quite run out yet, as the rewind on her yo-yo was still active and running. It seems enough time had passed that it started flailing about again, undoing the motions of her breaking the phones. The first hit caught Lady WiFi square in the mouth, causing her to stumble back and reach up to her face that was now gushing blood from her split lip and likely broken nose. 

The akuma screamed in fury as the yo-yo continued to swing around sporadically, acting as a barrier that kept her at a distance. Injured and angry and not really thinking, Lady WiFi cancelled out of her currently active icons rather than just wait for the yo-yo to stop swinging once more. However, the newly freed Ladybug pushed her advantage and swung her yo-yo for real, driving the akuma further back. Realizing she was in a bad spot at the moment, Lady WiFi opted for a tactical retreat to pull herself back together before trying again. 

“If you don't free your boyfriend quickly, he'll end up a frozen catsicle,” she taunted as she backed to the kitchen doors. “Good luck with your bashful lover! I have other fish to fry!” with that she jumped to the dining room and teleported away through one of the phones there.

~*~

Chloé had waited until the coast seemed clear before changing back to her regular street clothes and sneaking her way out of the building. The rest of the hotel's patrons and staff had evacuated during the time Ladybug and Chat Noir had been laying in wait in the basement. A police barricade had been set up to cordon off the area in hopes that they could prevent the akuma's escaping or keep wayward fans from entering the building and becoming civilian casualties or hostages to use against the heroes.

Hesitantly, worried about approaching the police who were trying to prevent an akuma escaping, Chloé toed her way to the glass doors, sticking her head through cautiously. Her father stood among the officers, refusing to leave while his precious princess was still inside. When he saw her at the door, he almost ran back in himself to get to her. Chloé dashed out to meet her father half way in a hug. “Ladybug saved me again...” she admitted. Officer Raincomprix came over and began ushering them out of the line of fire when her phone rang. “Hold on,” she said, pulling it out and pressing the talk button before looking to see who was calling.

The phone was half way to her ear when the pink light filled her vision again and she dropped the phone, backing away from it and into her father's protective embrace. The teleportation shot upwards to the roof of the hotel, where Lady WiFi used a rewind icon on her own face until the injuries were fixed. She then set up a camera icon and a projection screen. “Hi there, Buggers! Listen carefully! Have I got a scoop for you!”

~*~

Ladybug yanked frantically at the door, but the temperature gauge had vacuum-sealed the lock shut and she couldn't get it opened. “I'll get you out of there, Chat Noir!” Ladybug promised. 

The shivering Adrien looked over from where he was removing boxes off the lowest level of the shelves, trying to see where his Miraculous had rolled to under all of them. “Er, no, no... take your time...” he called back. His voice was already growing weak, and his teeth chattered so hard he wasn't sure she'd be able to make him out. He could feel his body slowly shutting down on him, but he had to keep going or he would die for sure.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug cried, throwing her yo-yo in the air. What came down again was a frozen dinner in a thin aluminum box. How would this help her get her partner out of the freezer? She started looking the box over, the meal was just a generic meat-and-potatoes type thing, nothing special. If it weren't cased in metal she'd even call it a microwave dinner... of course! She had heard somewhere that microwaving thin metal made an EMP, and the lock on the fridge was controlled by an electronic temperature gauge!

She scanned the kitchen quickly, locating a microwave on a far wall. Grabbing a serving trolley, she unplugged the microwave and shunted it across before wheeling the whole thing over by the freezer. She plugged it back in, put the lucky charm inside, and froze. She really didn't know what she was doing, would it even work? She remembered how weak his voice sounded and decided she didn't have time to figure anything else out. She was already on the clock as it was. She didn't know how long it would take to make an EMP, but her power would ware out in less than five minutes. 

She didn't know if a lucky charm could last after her transformation gave out, but she set the microwave for ten minutes just to be sure. If it was going to work, it would by then. She pushed it as close to the door as she could get it, then ducked for cover. After all, everyone knew that metal in a microwave would cause an explosion.

Within the freezer, Adrien finally found the shelf his ring had rolled under. He reached between the slats to fish out his Miraculous with relief flooding through him. He had heard Ladybug call for her lucky charm, so either she was fighting again and needed him at her side, or was using it to get the door open, which meant he was on limited time.

As soon as the Miraculous touched his skin, Plagg was released. “Brr, it's chilly!” ze complained at once, then turned to Adrien. “See? What did I tell you? An accumulation of bad luck--”

“Okay, okay, I get it, I believe you now. So could you just hurry up and transform moi?” The light barely finished flashing over him when a loud bang was heard by the door. Staggering to his feet in concern, he stumbled forward despite his numbed limbs, his mind only on the potential welfare of his Lady to keep him conscious.

Then the door was wrenched open and she was there, safe but for the worry clouding her features. He took another step towards her, but the knowledge that she was safe seemed to sap what little desperate strength his muscles had managed to hold on to, for as soon as he tried to transfer his weight forward, his legs gave out underneath him. “Chat!” Ladybug cried, springing forward and engulfing him in her arms before he could hit the ground. She dragged him out from off the frozen floor and a few feet away before sinking down and cradling him against her chest. “Are you okay, Chat Noir?”

She was so warm, and he wanted so bad to just stay there forever, but the akuma was still out there and still hunting her. By the time her earrings beeped with three dots left, he managed to pull himself apart from her, though he still shivered violently. “The akuma...” he reminded when she looked like she was going to pull him back in for another hug. “You used your Lucky Charm. You'll detransform soon and be defenceless...”

“Then we'll just have to put her on an even playing field. She's after me, so as long as I don't leave the property of the hotel, she'll keep coming back here, no matter what. But if we destroy the WiFi antenna, she'll be powerless no matter where we go in the building. Then I can recharge my kwami, and you can warm up, without worrying about being ambushed.” Ladybug reasoned.

Chat pulled up the building schematics again on his staff as he leaned against Ladybug for as much warmth as he could manage. “The antenna is up on the roof, here,” he indicated, showing her where they had to go. Thankfully, they were only on the second floor from the top.

“Okay, we should get going then,” she stated, pulling him to his feet.

“No, you should hide,” he tried to insist.

“I'll be fine, I've still got a few minutes,” she said. Figuring arguing the point would take longer than they had, he turned and started running for the closest stairwell. They made it to the roof without incident, Ladybug's earrings beeping their two minute warning as she hung back on the landing just inside the door. 

Chat bounded up onto the roof where the antenna was, and called “Cataclysm!” He was about to touch the antenna when it suddenly surged with pink electricity. Pausing in surprise, his gaze followed the rising surge to the top where it materialized as Lady WiFi herself.

“Nice try, chaton! But I won't let you disconnect me so easily!” she shot off a pause icon at him, and Chat Noir had to backflip away, landing on the roof below in a one-handed back handspring. After flipping over a few times to get some dodging distance, and hopping around a few more attempts to pause him, he threw his baton. Lady WiFi ducked the projectile, watching it split into two separate batons that boomeranged around her in opposite directions. She turned to deal with the projectiles, shooting pause icons at each in turn, and so Chat Noir took the opportunity to get back to the antenna she stood atop.

By the time she realized she had fallen for his distraction, his hand was already firmly against the metal and it was rusting away to a crumbling nothingness as the corruption continued to spread further along the pole. “No!” she screamed in rage, right before the whole thing tipped under her added weight and she fell to the ground. She picked herself up and looked to her phone with a despairing cry of “No more signal!”

“Give me that phone!” Chat yelled at her, leaping down to confront her in hand-to-hand combat. But Alya's sister, Nora, was a champion wrestler who had insisted on teaching her little sisters some moves so creeps couldn't ever take advantage of them. So sadly for Chat, these moves translated easily to the strength enhanced akuma and after a few seconds of struggle he found himself pinned on his back under her. 

But Lady WiFi hadn't been monitoring Ladybug's position, hadn't even realized the heroine was on the roof as well, and so was taken completely off guard when the yo-yo string wrapped around her phone and it was ripped from her hands. Using the extra momentum of the string, Ladybug slammed the cellphone into the wall with all her might. At once the akuma was released, and while Ladybug did the cleansing and cure, Chat Noir guided the confused Alya off his midsection and got back to his feet.

Alya blinked at the world around her in confusion. “Huh? Wha-what...?”

“Bien joué!” the heroes cheered, sharing their now customary fist bump. 

“Ladybug! Wow! And Chat Noir! Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!” Alya gushed.

“Milady, about earlier...” Chat began, there was so much he wanted to say, but time was limited. “If you remember nothing else, remember I have green eyes and blond hair.” Adrien's picture was plastered all over Paris, if she at least kept that much in mind, she'd find him eventually. Just then, her Miraculous beeped the one minute warning. “We should go, you have less than a minute.”

He lead her back to the stairwell, and sent his staff to the bottom for an express trip down, holding his other arm out to her in a silent offer. She hesitated only a second, before stepping up and looping her arms around his neck of her own accord. What felt like only a heartbeat later, he was helping her climb across the railing on the ground floor.

They ran through the door together, and she realized she wouldn't have time to get away properly. She looked around until she noticed a closet and started to duck inside. “Wait!” Chat caught the door before it could close, before he even realized what he was doing. His body had just moved by itself. “Stay? I won't tell anyone who you are... cat's word!” he promised, placing a hand over his heart and holding the other up to show just how much he meant it.

“No one can know who we really are... not even each other,” she reiterated, pulling the door shut between them.

But it didn't close all the way. He could see a sliver of the closet beyond, his hand closed around the door handle and he hesitated. There was a flash of pink light, and he knew his Lady had reverted to her civilian form. This was it, she was right there, it would be so easy. He could pull the door open, see what she looked like without the glamour, finally be able to remember what she looked like, sounded like, smelled like, tasted like. He could tell her who he was, and could treasure everything about her, but... 

But she would hate him for forcing a reveal like that, immediately after she had told him 'no'. It would be so disrespectful, walking all over her desires, he'd likely loose her forever. At least in the way it mattered, even if she was forced to still fight by his side physically. He wanted it so much, but until she wanted it as well, he'd just have to be patient. He pulled the door shut, the sound of the latch clicking into place like a finality on a dream. He turned and ran, out the front door, calling to the officers that it was all alright now. He vaulted off into the distance, to that cold, empty, too-large room people insisted he belonged in.

Marinette waited silently in the little closet until the sounds of people milling about the lobby, gossiping or complaining about the events of the day reached her ears. Now that it wouldn't be suspicious to have a thirteen-year-old girl in an otherwise evacuated hotel, she slipped out, blended the best she could with the crowds, and headed off to the streets to begin her walk home.

~*~

After much deliberation from the board of directors, Alya's suspension was reduced to only the one day; however, because she did technically break the law, as pointed out by Mlle Raincomprix, the punishment would remain on her permanent record. “It's totally not fair! Chloé was blowing things way out of proportion, and making up lies to get her way—saying I broke into her locker, really—but I still get the permanent mark on my record?! This school board is so unbelievably corrupt!” Alya was complaining at Marinette as they walked to class that morning.

Unusually, however, Adrien was already on the front steps when they arrived, and intercepted them with a completely blank expression. “Say, Alya, could I speak with you for a minute?”

The two girls looked at each other, confused. “Uh, sure Sunshine, what is it?” Alya responded.

“This way, please?” he indicated before he turned and began walking into the school. Alya followed, noticing Chloé wasn't haunting the front doors for the model like she usually did. Well, better that she didn't have to face that blond bully so early in the morning, anyway. Adrien took her to an otherwise empty classroom and closed the door behind them to dissuade eavesdroppers.

“So, what's the juicy gossip that's got you so secretive?” Alya asked, trying to lighten the strangely heavy mood. She didn't know why she felt so on edge, like she was being judged, Adrien didn't even look ruffled around the edges, let alone angry.

He leaned back against a desk and levelled her with an emotionless green gaze. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday involving Chloé,” he explained.

Alya rolled her eyes and huffed, all ready to go into a big rant about how unfair the school was for siding with Chloé like that just because she was rich and related to the mayor. “Look, I get that you're childhood friends with her and she probably spun this whole big story about what happened, but it was just a picture of her at her locker!”

“Was it really? Because from where I'm standing it was extremely concerning. While to you it might just be a meaningless picture, to someone who grew up with tabloid journalists and paparazzi and crazed stalker fans trying to invade every aspect of our lives to get their next big scoop and dig up that little bit of dirt no one else found out about yet, it comes across very differently. But then, I also know it wasn't just a picture. You were digging for proof that Chloé was Ladybug.”

“Oh, come on, it's not _that_ bad! I know she was trying to spin it...” Alya started to argue, but trailed off at the flash of fury in Adrien's eyes.

“Perhaps you would consider it 'that bad' when your blog gains popularity and your little sisters have to be moved away from the rest of your family to stop people standing at their windows and snapping photos of them when they're sleeping or trying to change their clothes. Or perhaps when you come back to your room to find a strange man standing in the middle of it with a camera, having climbed in through your bedroom window to try and get a shot of you as you come out of the bath. Just because you don't see what the big deal is, doesn't mean it's not traumatic for someone else,” Adrien countered. 

“That...” Alya choked on her own words. “That's absurd! That can't possibly... there's no way...”

“Well, admittedly the bathroom thing happened to me, but why do you think Chloé lives alone in the penthouse suite of her father's hotel instead of with him? And even that didn't stop the truly dedicated, as a pervert in prison and a drone full of photographs of an eleven year old in her nightshirt can attest to. There is a reason we can never drop our public masks and just be ourselves.” He heaved a deep breath and forced himself to let the point go and move on.

“However, as we both know you were actually trying to dig up a deep, dark secret about Chloé when you took that picture, let's look at the actual evidence for and against. As I can list off a good amount of proof against, I'll let you explain first what made you so convinced that Chloé was indeed Ladybug?” he prompted.

“On Monday, when I was getting ready to go home, I saw Chloé being really suspicious, like she was trying to hide something, so I watched her and she took a Ladybug outfit out of her locker and even had a yo-yo that looked exactly like the one Ladybug uses! I compared it to real video footage and everything!” Alya expressed.

“Alya, Chloé is just a fan, no different from yourself. While you show your support and admiration for Ladybug by making the Ladyblog, Chloé shows it by dressing up and trying to imitate her. And she's not going to be the only one, either. She's just got the benefit of being rich, so could afford to have the costume made in high quality very quickly, but in these coming months and years there will be hundreds—if not thousands—of similar costumes being made. 

“If you had just had the patience to talk to me about it, you know, the person who has known her longest and the best out of everyone at school? I would have been able to point out to you several reasons why Chloé couldn't possibly be Ladybug. Like for starters their personalities don't match. Or the fact that Chloé was hugging my arm when Ladybug showed up at my birthday party. Or I could have reminded you that right before Ladybug made her big speech at the Eiffel Tower, she saved Chloé from being killed. Killed, may I add, during a kidnapping event by an akuma that you taped happening yourself, and that you were saved by Ladybug before the akuma threw Chloé and Ladybug saved her life.”

Alya paled. Of course, of course she had forgotten about that. The thing about his arm she hadn't known, but she had seen Chloé and Adrien dancing together at the party, and would Ladybug really abandon the people of Paris to an akuma just to dance with some boy? She had even written an article compiled from first hand accounts praising the teens of Paris for doing as Ladybug had asked them in a time of crisis. How could she have been so stupid and let herself get so ahead of herself?

“Further, putting aside all the evidence, if you really could have proven Chloé—or any other girl for that matter—was Ladybug, what did you intend to even _do_ with that information? Were you going to post it online for the whole world to see? For Le Papillon to see? Out her to the public so she couldn't even go for a walk without being mauled by fans and reporters? You're a superhero fan, Alya, you know what sort of things happen when superheroes get their identities leaked to the public, the sort of danger it puts on them and all their family and friends. Would you really put all those people in danger just for some page views on your blog?”

“N-no, I... I just want to help...” Alya insisted, her voice growing small.

“What help would you knowing her identity provide that you can't do without it?” When Alya couldn't answer, Adrien sighed, figuring he had gotten on her case enough for one day. If she didn't learn her lesson from this, he'd just have to try again to find the words she would respond to. “I don't want to think of you as that sort of person, the kind people like me and Chloé aren't safe around. I don't want to imagine never being able to express my real self around you, lest whatever I say or do ends up all over the web, just for the hits to your blog page. So please, don't do this sort of thing again.”

With that said, he got up and walked out of the room, leaving her to mull over her actions and the consequences that could result from them.

~*~

When Adrien entered the classroom alone, Marinette felt a twinge of concern. He had been waiting to talk to Alya that morning, but now they weren't together. Of course she tried to tell herself Alya had just gone to the washroom or to her locker or something, but as the minutes ticked by, those pacifying thoughts started to falter. But to inquire after her friend would mean opening a conversation with her crush who she could hardly form words around, let alone sentences.

But, it wasn't like she was asking him anything important, just where her friend got to. Surely there was nothing embarrassing about that, right? So, gathering up all her courage, Marinette stuck out an index finger and leaned forward until it came in contact with the boy sitting in front of her. 

He initially turned to her looking a mixture of confused and surprised, but that quickly fell way to one of his sunshine smiles when he noticed who exactly was attempting to get his attention. The air in Marinette's lungs suddenly seemed to disappear under the force of his shining expression, her face burning in the radiance of it. She swallowed nothingness in an attempt to get her throat functioning. “Al-er-where?” she managed to force out.

He took a moment to process what she might be trying to say, before shaking his head, “I'm not sure. Alya seemed to need some time to think, so I left first.”

Marinette wanted to express her understanding, but couldn't quite bring herself to do so. Her best friend had gone through a traumatic experience just the day before. She was worried about her mental state, so Marinette got up and left to track her friend down without even attempting to say goodbye or thanks first. She wandered around for what had to be a good five minutes before she found Alya hiding on the floor of the bathroom. 

Sinking to her knees beside the darker girl, Marinette tried to think of something to say, but Alya beat her to it. “I messed up...” she admitted, voice tight but the tears still only brimming in her eyes. “I just wanted to help, but I got carried away and ended up hurting people instead. People I didn't even know I could be hurting. And-and I'm _sorry_! I didn't _mean_ to hurt anyone! I wanted to-to find Ladybug so-so I could _coordinate_ with her and do all the research and undercover stuff! And then, I saw Chloé had a Ladybug suit and I-I jumped to conclusions! I mean, I know what sort of person Chloé is, and I just... I let my emotions run away with me and cloud my judgment. And now-now I've screwed up my _permanent records_ and Adrien can't trust me, and Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't even _talk_ to me after the akuma was cleansed!”

Marinette blinked, mouth hanging agape as she listened to Alya begin to sob. Just what had Adrien said to her friend to cause this sort of reaction? She crawled forward and took Alya in her arms. “I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir don't hate you, Alya. You said they have timers on their transformations, right? They probably just ran out is all. It's nothing to do with you. You aren't to blame for the actions that the akuma made you do. No more than Ivan or Aurore are. As for the rest, well... you didn't _mean_ to hurt anyone, and you can always say sorry, and as for the jumping to conclusions thing... well... you're young? You're learning? You... can get better about it?”

“I don't _deserve_ to be a journalist if I can't even do basic _fact-checking_. Adrien thoroughly debunked my theory with well established facts about Chloé and Ladybug in a matter of minutes! Pointing out things I even witnessed and experienced _myself_ as proof! How could I have been so blind? What sort of reliable source could my blog be if I can't even be logical about something like that?” Alya complained.

“Then get better,” Marinette insisted. “We all have our faults. I can't even form words around Adrien because I'm such a spaz, and I spill or trip over or drop everything I touch. But, every day I try and do a little better than the day before. Today I managed to even ask Adrien where you were... sort of. But the point is! You're thirteen, you've got a good five to ten years to work at it before you have to worry about getting a job in journalism. So, start small. Make sure to really research everything before you post it to your blog. And maybe instead of focusing so much on the heroes identities you could support them in other ways? Like that anti-bullying article you wrote when trying to discern what Papillon targets for his akuma victims. I really liked that article...”

“You-you did?”

“Yeah, it brought a lot of awareness to a problem people have been turning a blind eye to for far too long. And the akuma prevention techniques you suggested, about meditation and problem solving and organization and such... I-I've started trying to incorporate some of that into my own life to keep me safe and it's been helping a lot with my anxiety! If you kept writing articles about that kind of stuff, or-or like... an akuma help group or something, getting funding for counselling? Um... there's things that a platform like yours could really do to help out not just Ladybug and Chat Noir, but everyone in Paris! I mean, it would be helping them, because it would make less people who could become akuma running around, and that would help everyone and--”

The bell rang, signalling it was time for class to start. Alya forced a grin and scrubbed at her face with the back of her forearm. “You're right. There's lots I can do that can really help people! Thanks, Marinette, you're a really amazing friend. I'm so glad I know someone like you. Now, let's get to class before you get any more tardy marks on your attendance, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed up parts of the fight scene because... well, honestly I got bored writing them. There were things that didn't make sense, like Papillon pressuring Lady WiFi to force Ladybug to use her Lucky Charm for an identity reveal instead of just taking the Miraculous then and there like he'd focus on in later episodes. There were also timing things, like how did it go from being 9:45 in the morning to suddenly dusk by the time Chat Noir arrived at Chloe's room to check if she really was Ladybug. And this episode was one of the biggest ones to point out the fact that the writers didn't have their origin story planned out, because Chloe was saved by Ladybug on national TV in her very second outing. If Alya was really so amazingly on top of all things Ladybug, she'd know that already.
> 
> But, I couldn't really change that premise without re-writing the whole episode to the point it could hardly be recognized as the same thing, so instead you get this, an Alya too eager to jump to conclusions and getting sat down and talked to about the need to think things through and act responsibly with her platform. And who better than Adrien to have such a chat? Cannon shows us that his way of dealing with problems is quietly in private with one-on-one discussions. Not yelling or making a scene, but a calm conversation that lets the other party know exactly what his stance is on the matter and what he expects of them in the future.
> 
> And about what Adrien said, it's the truth. Just because something doesn't affect you, you can't assume other people aren't bothered by it. Trauma triggers come in all sorts of weird ways that you wouldn't always think about at first, so you should always be conscientious when someone tries to tell you something bothers them.
> 
> In this chapter, Alya got to be very, very wrong. Then she had how wrong she was and how much it could hurt people pointed out to her. She's not going to get better over night, bad tendencies take time to correct, but now she's aware that she has these problems and can work to make them better. It'll be Chloe's turn to face her own bad tendencies later, but here I wanted to show that even people who are often in the right can make bad decisions if they're not willing to stop and listen to those around them.


	8. Chronogirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alix has a birthday, Marinette tries a little too hard to multitask, and Adrien suffers some side effects from pushing his bad luck a little too far.
> 
> \----
> 
> Adrien's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. “You mean it? My first school event?”
> 
> The class melted under the strength of that awestruck, hopeful look as a madly blushing Chloé's tsundere side reared it's head once more. “Th-that...! Ugh! I spoil you too much! I-it just makes sense there would be school events, Adrichou! You're in collège now!”
> 
> “Chloé is right, Adrien!” Rose piped up, ever the eager girl to make everyone else happy. “Now that you're attending collège, you'll have loads of opportunities to do all sorts of fun things with your classmates, right everyone?” There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the room, which earned everyone a sunshine smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm sure anyone reading this along side me writing it has noticed I've started to lose my steam, not sure how long updates will continue at this fast a pace, but I am still managing to write at least a few hundred words a day. I let myself play a bit more on this chapter, rewriting sections of the fight scene in a way I hope will be appreciated.
> 
> Anyway, Chloe gets to show her skill as class rep in this chapter and there's a couple of throwbacks to the first few chapters in Adrien's peacemaker tendencies and his dreams of what school life is like from the anime he's watched. Poor secluded cinnamon roll.

Marinette sat before her vanity, brushing her hair with her hair ties in her mouth and only half-listening as Tikki gave another preaching lecture about her duties and obligations as a Miraculous holder. “I understand it can be hard to hide things this big from your family and friends, finding that balance between your superheroine and civilian lives is one of those things that every Miraculous holder must learn to accommodate. And sometimes that sadly means you will have to loose out on things you really want as a civilian because your duties to your city and its people take precedent.”

Marinette pulled the hair ties from her mouth and began pulling her hair into her pigtails. “But it won't be forever, right? I mean, one of these days I'll be able to retire as Ladybug and go back to living a peaceful life as a normal girl! I'll get to date Adrien, and we can get married, and have three kids, and a hamster named--”

Suddenly, Tikki ducked away into one of the vanity drawers. Marinette blinked at where ze vanished to, but before she could say anything the trap door burst open and Alya was climbing in. “What's this about three kids and a hamster? Are you talking to yourself about your daydreams with Adrien again?” her friend teased.

“A-Alya!” Marinette squeaked out, face flushing at having been caught. “I-I-I w-was just... that is... he wasn't...!”

“Soooo... that's basically a 'yes'. Jeez, girl, you have it way too bad! Anyway, here! I came by early cause I wanted to brag! Check it out! The donations from my blog finally were enough I could get that new cellphone I wanted! This baby has the best quality camera on the market, I spent hours researching to make sure! And a huge memory to boot, so I'll be able to take hours of video footage if I have to! And look here, I even had enough left over to splurge a little and order in these attachable lenses! They should be arriving in the mail sometime next week...” Alya showed off.

“That's great, Alya! With all of this, you should have no problem getting your high-quality video footage while still keeping back from the akuma fights,” Marinette said supportively. 

“You bet! Of course, it's nothing compared to seeing the real deal with your own two eyes, but... you should really come out with me some time, then you'll finally be able to see for yourself how great Ladybug and Chat Noir are!” Alya pressed.

“Thanks, but... I really don't think running head-long into danger is much of my thing. Chronic klutz mixed with panic attacks in the middle of a terrorist monster attack? Yeah, no, that sounds way too much like a recipe for disaster to me,” Marinette excused herself.

“Well, you'll still be able to enjoy seeing the videos afterwards on this thing. Look, see how high definition the screen is?” Alya gushed, sidling up next to Marinette and swiping through several shots of Adrien.

Marinette's eyes bulged. “What are you doing with all those photos of Adrien?!” she demanded jealously, snatching for the phone.

“Other than teasing you?” Alya asked as she dodged nimbly. Ah, so many things Marinette was at a disadvantage in due to being an only child... “I was just thinking about something Chat Noir said when I was akumatized. He said he had green eyes and blond hair, and for some reason it just stuck in my head that it was the case. And, well, the first blond haired green eyed boy that came to mind...”

Marinette pulled back and frowned. “Alya, weren't you going to give up on uncovering their identities?” she accused.

“Oh, don't worry! This was just for fun, it's not like I'm posting it anywhere! But look! With a mask and costume...” Alya said as she swiped between a photo of him from the hip up and one she had used a basic photo editor to put in something that sort of resembled Chat's leather cat suit. “Don't you think they kinda look alike?”

Marinette blanched at the very idea her sweet, gentle crush could be the flirty showoff Chat Noir. “Wow, have you lost your mind or what? He has _way_ more class than Chat Noir!”

“Hey, I'll have you know I think Chat Noir is pretty cute!” Alya defended.

“Yeah, well, keep to pictures of _him_ then, and stop taking pictures of Adrien!” Marinette went back to sulking. “Unless... you give them to me, of course!”

Alya rolled her eyes at her friend. “I think you've got enough pictures of him already, girl,” she said, indicating Marinette's wall, covered in a collage of magazine clippings as she backed out of her image viewing app. She noticed the time. “We should be going, if we don't want to be late.”

~*~

Alix and Kim were at it again, though no one was quite sure what had triggered it this time. Kim was posturing about his own greatness, claiming himself superior to everyone and anyone, while Alix wasn't having any of it. They were now standing nose-to-chest with the whole class standing around them, goading the two rivals on with jeers and cries of encouragement. 

Adrien was watching wide eyed, torn somewhere between agitation and excitement. He didn't know these people that well, he wasn't sure it wouldn't dissolve into a fist fight or break up their friendship. He didn't know how he should be reacting, really. At first the antagonism seemed to all be playful ribbing, and while it still seemed that way now, it was reaching an intensity and fever pitch he wasn't accustomed to. He wanted to go and just stop all the fighting, they were being loud and he just knew they would end up getting in trouble once an adult heard them. He didn't want anyone being punished.

But Chloé just sat at her desk, tapping at her phone and ignoring the commotion, so it couldn't be too bad, right? She wouldn't just ignore a real fight going on, so it had to still be some strange form of play that he wasn't used to. Kind of like when Chloé and Félix would get into their bickering matches that sounded like fighting but was only verbal sparring. He wished he were better at social cues so he wouldn't misread so many situations like this. Maybe then he'd be able to help Marinette not be so nervous around him.

Chloé suddenly got to her feet and stood in front of the room where the teacher usually stood, clapping her hands loudly and calling, “Alright, idiots! That's enough! All your noise is giving me a headache! So here's how it'll go down instead! This Sunday, a race between Kim and Alix at the Trocadéro at two sharp! Max! You're in charge of mapping out a racing course for them! Ivan! You've got the muscle, so you are in charge of bringing refreshments! Rose! You live in that general area, so you'll be in charge of bringing some blankets for everyone to sit on! As for the rest of you dunderheads, just show up! Sabrina will be taking all bets so place them early.”

“Sunday? Ugh, I'm not sure I--” Alix started to say, only for Kim to interrupt her.

“What? You chickening out? Didn't expect that from _you_ of all people, but hey, I get it! I'm invincible, after all!” Kim goaded.

“What?! Oh, _hell_ no! I'm not chicken about anything!” Alix countered.

“Right, it's settled then. Everyone better be there or else!” Chloé threatened with a huff.

Chloé started to return to her seat, when she noticed Adrien looking somewhat anxious and so paused and looked at him expectantly. “I-I don't know if I'll be able to make it, what with my schedule and all...” he admitted, looking guilty for ruining the class's plans. 

“Don't worry about that, I already cleared it with Nathalie just now as a school event,” Chloé told him, indicating her phone.

Adrien's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. “You mean it? My first school event?”

The class melted under the strength of that awestruck, hopeful look as a madly blushing Chloé's tsundere side reared it's head once more. “Th-that...! Ugh! I spoil you too much! I-it just makes sense there would be school events, Adrichou! You're in collège now!”

“Chloé is right, Adrien!” Rose piped up, ever the eager girl to make everyone else happy. “Now that you're attending collège, you'll have loads of opportunities to do all sorts of fun things with your classmates, right everyone?” There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the room, which earned everyone a sunshine smile.

“Oh!” Adrien suddenly exclaimed. “But not everyone is here yet, what if Alya and Marinette can't make it?” he worried.

“That's nothing to be concerned about,” Chloé tried to insist.

“It would be better if Marinette doesn't show up,” Kim pointed out. Nathaniel just averted his eyes, looking discontent as he went back to his sketchbook.

“There'll be less chance of things getting screwed up that way,” agreed Sabrina. Juleka and Alix both nodded at this as well.

“Well, I guess if they're not too busy...” Rose compromised.

“But everything is a disaster whenever Marinette's involved,” Max argued.

Adrien felt his heart sink as he looked around at everyone. “But Marinette is so _nice_! And to be the only one left out of everything is just cruel and mean! How would you all feel if you were the only one that no one wanted to include? Just sitting there in your room all day, seeing everyone else having fun together and knowing you're not invited!”

Nino's heart sank at the analogy, clearly the blond was speaking from experience about that one. If it could help him avoid reliving a bad experience... “My bro's right. It won't be a proper class event if not everyone in the class is there, and I for one don't want to be the sort of asshole that would do something like that to someone, anyway.”

“Right, Marinette's actually really nice, once you get past the clumsiness. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that,” Ivan spoke up. Nathaniel raised his eyes from his sketchbook and watched everyone for a moment, but didn't say anything. Yet when his eyes returned to his drawing, there was a small smile on his face.

“Yeah,” was all Mylène had the guts to add.

Just then, the door opened and the last two students entered the room. Chloé made a sound of disgust as she rolled her eyes. “Definitely too spoiled. Alix and Kim are having a match on Sunday at two at the Trocadéro! Dupain-Cheng! You... make a... banner or something! And Césaire... is in charge of... I don't know, filming the stupid thing so we can put it on the class webpage's 'Memorial Book', if you must!”

Both girls blinked at the sudden announcement. “I-er, okay?” Alya shrugged after a moment.

Marinette, on the other hand, cast her gaze to the other kids in the room. She could easily read the displeasure in most of their faces, she knew from past events that she wasn't welcome, and it always was so awkward to show up to those sorts of things when no one wanted her there. Besides, it was her parent's crystal anniversary this Sunday. “Oh, well, I-I don't know...” she began to excuse herself.

Chloé's hand hit down on her table hard, palm open and flat, leaning over her desk with the other hand planted firmly on her hip. “Dupain-Cheng! Don't you _dare_ ruin Adrichou's first ever class event with some selfish, whiny little thing or _else_!”

“A-Adri...” Marinette squeaked, eyes darting to the boy in question.

Adrien looked up at her with eyes like a kicked puppy pleading for love and affection. “You can make it, right Marinette?”

“Yes! Go I do! I mean! You'll come! I mean! See you soon! I-I!” Marinette garbled out at the top of her lungs. Adrien just smiled at her as Mlle Bustier came in and the class was made to start their day.

~*~

Marinette turned off the game console after a few online matches in Ultimate Mecha Strike 3. As much as she liked whipping everyone's butts, sometimes she just wished for a bit more of a challenge in the game. She decided to get something to eat for lunch and headed down the stairs to put something together, only to find her mother standing in front of the hallway mirror and eyeing herself critically. When Sabine noticed Marinette, she asked, “So? With or without?”

The young designer looked her over. She was fiddling with a flower clip in her hair. “Uhh, with?”

Sabine frowned contemplatively. “You sure it’s not better without?”

“With or without, you are perfect, Maman,” Marinette assured.

“You know it’s not everyday that you celebrate your fifteenth anniversary of marriage!” her mother confided.

“Marinette! Can you come here for a second please!” Tom called from the bathroom. Marinette went to go see what her father wanted, and came in to him standing before the other mirror. “So?”

Marinette just stared at him blankly. “So, what?”

“My moustache. I trimmed it; it’s not too short? Should I not have shaved it? Isn’t this side a little more...” he fretted.

“You are perfect, Papa. Uh, There’s just a little something...” Marinette pointed out his still flour-covered clothes and apron.

“O-oh, thank you, ma chère!” he said, hurrying out towards his room.

Marinette giggled after him, “With pleasure, Papa!”

Ten minutes and a sandwich later found Marinette ushering her parents out the door. “You’ll be late!” she urged.

“Don’t forget, Mme Chamack will pick up the Eiffel Tower cake in thirty minutes. I’m counting on you,” Tom reminded.

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry it’ll be a piece of cake!” she punned at them, shutting the door so they would finally get a move on. “Wow, fifteen years of marriage! Not bad, eh Tikki?” she sighed as she locked up and carefully kept her distance from her father's masterpiece while she gathered some unsold snacks for her and her kwami before heading back up the stairs.

“Time passes quickly when you have fun!” Tikki responded, picking up a cookie of hir own and followed Marinette up the stairs.

“But it seems too long when you’re doing homework,” the blunette complained, picking up her math text.

~*~

Alix kicked her feet under the table. This was so not her scene, but her father insisted on getting a table in a fancy restaurant like this for her every year. Oh well, at least he gave her permission to duck out early so she could 'celebrate with her friends'. And by celebrate she of course meant kick Kim's ass in their race today.

She cast bored eyes around the room, happening to make eye contact with another patron, Tom Dupain. The tall bear-of-a-man waved at her, so she waved back. _Oh my god, who does that? Wave at random teens that happen to be in your kid's class but aren't even friends._ Her dad noticed the action. “It’s Marinette’s parents. You know, one of the girls at my school.”

Alim Kubdel looked over and nodded. “Yes, I recognize them. They make the best bread in Paris,” he said, trying to open a conversation topic. Alix shifted back to a more comfortable position, one foot kicked out and her opposite arm hanging over the back of the posh chair. Her dad's eyes trailed down at the sudden flash of motion and he frowned. “Couldn't you make more of an effort on your appearance?” he pressured, taking in her high tops.

“What? I took off my cap!” Alix argued, gesturing to the warn black baseball cap with the fraying brim sitting on the table beside her.

Alix really didn't fit in with the rest of her family. She didn't really fit in anywhere, but her family just couldn't get her. Her dad was a historian working in the Louvre, always with his nose so far buried in the past he hardly had time to look around himself and see the present. There were days she didn't even see him at all because he spent so many hours in his office, trying to uncover the secrets of ancient history. Her mom was happily a housewife that seemed unable to understand how Alix couldn't want to be dressed in more pink frills than Rose.

While her older brother, Jalil, was almost the carbon copy of their dad, right down to the precocious dress sense and obsession with history, if Alix herself didn't look like such a perfect blend of her parents she'd have thought herself adopted with how little she had in common with any of them. She didn't see the point of history, it all happened so long ago, it didn't affect the here and now any more than people let it. Not to mention she could never seem to remember it properly, despite her usually outstanding mind for small details. She figured it was just a lack of interest on her part making it so she couldn't keep her facts strait, but she always seemed to remember things happening differently than the books say they did.

Honestly, the only things Alix was really into was extreme sports. From the time she was able to move on her own two feet, she ran almost every step she ever took. Not because she had to, but because she could, pushing her body to the extremes just felt so good. She'd live at the skate park if she could, and there were those videos online about parkour that looked totally metal. She had started practising the moves on her own, determined to master what she could from the ground before taking it to the roofs herself.

“But today’s a very special day!” her dad was insisting.

“Oh, it’s just a birthday,” Alix argued back, seriously, what was the big deal? She got older every second, so why did people need to make one day of that process any more important than any other? She liked the Alice in Wonderland movie for pointing that out, why not have unbirthdays? If you cared for someone, you should be able to show it at any point year round, not have to save it all up for a certain day of the year.

Alim tisked his tongue at her a few times. “Not just any birthday,” he prompted, pulling his old antique watch from his coat. She had no clue why he was so attached to the thing, he had never let it off his person and never let either of the children touch it. She had always kind of figured it would be handed down to Jalil's kids once their old man kicked the bucket or something. “This family heirloom was made by one of our ancestors from long ago. It’s been passed down for generations on the fourteenth birthday of the last child. And today, it’s your turn to have it.”

“It’s nice, Pa, but I already have a watch, you know, connected to my smart phone,” Alix insisted, showing off the little digital contraption on her wrist. 

“You shouldn’t always judge by appearance, Alix, as our ancestor was...” Alim said sagely, reaching forward and opening the watch case. The watch glowed a pale blue, projecting up an image of a woman in her twenties, dressed like she was from the late 1800's and holding a giant watch up to show the time, “ahead of their time.” He let her look at it just long enough to become entranced, before snapping the lid shut and sliding the watch back across the table towards himself. “Of course, I understand if you’d like a new pair of roller blades--”

Alix practically lunged across the table. “No! Pa, I’m overjoyed! It’s great!”

Alim almost laughed at his daughter's reaction as he let the watch go and she brought it up to cradle it lovingly in both palms. Alix's phone alarm then began to ring and she hurried to grab it and shut it off. “It's time for you to go meet with your friends now, right?”

“Yeah, but... I feel a bit bad leaving you...” Alix admitted.

“No, go ahead. Enjoy your birthday with your friends, you only turn fourteen once, after all,” her dad insisted, sipping at his coffee. “Don’t forget to take good care of it.”

“Yeah!” Alix promised, pulling her faded hat back on and slinging her bag that had her roller blades in it over her shoulder before running out the door. This birthday wasn't seeming too bad after all, now all she had to do was kick Kim's ass on camera and she'd call the day borderline perfect.

~*~

“Go Marinette! You can do it! You’ll remember the formula! Think about it, Marinette! Think about it!” Tikki cheered on, trying to encourage hir holder to keep up the work on the girl's least favourite subject.

“Maybe I’ll be able to think about it if you didn’t encourage me so hard!” the blunette cried in exasperation. The kwami giggled nervously. Marinette's phone vibrated on the table, Alya's face showing up on the screen. “Hey Alya! You good?”

“ _Girl, where are you? It's about to start! Everyone's waiting!_ ” Alya's voice said over the small device.

Marinette was at a loss. “The... the what?”

“ _Did you seriously forget about the race between Alix and Kim?_ ”

“The race between Alix and Kim? No, no, of course not, I didn’t forget!” Marinette tried to cover up.

“ _Seriously, did you even remember to make the banner that Chloé put you in charge of?_ ”

“Yes, of course I made the banner!” Marinette said, looking over at the roll of fabric she had spent a few hours working on the day before. It wasn't much to be proud of, and was only quickly made, but it was still something.

“ _Well, if you don't get here in the next five minutes, you'll 'ruin Adrichou's first ever class event',_ ” Alya mocked Chloé.

“In five minutes? Yeah! It’s fine, I’m on the way! See you!” Marinette assured, hanging up quickly.

“But Marinette! You have to wait for Mme Chamack to give her the cake!” Tikki reminded as Marinette grabbed the banner.

“I still have twenty minutes before she arrives,” Marinette insisted, showing Tikki the time on her phone. “I promised everyone I’ll take care of the banner and they’re all counting on me! And Adrien’s there too~!”

“But you’ll never be at the Trocadéro in five minutes! It’s too far!” ze countered.

“Hmm. It’s not too far for Ladybug. Tikki, transform moi!”

A moment later had Ladybug swinging away, banner in hand, and across the Paris skyline to where her classmates were waiting. Three minutes later, she dropped down unnoticed about half a block away from the Trocadéro and ran the remainder of the way to where everyone else was gathered. As she came up, she unravelled the banner, showing it off for everyone assembled. 

She actually earned some smiles from a few of her classmates, namely Rose, Nathaniel, Ivan, Mylène, and the people she had come this last month to consider to be her friends. Adrien's heart swelled with joy at the sight. Everyone could be here together, no one left out, and even Marinette, who for some weird reason people were eager to disclude, there were people here happy that she would join them.

“Great job, Marinette!” he offered his support, flashing her a playful wink to let her know he had her back. 

“You guys got tricked Alix didn’t even have the courage to come! For fear of losing to a buff athlete, no doubt,” Kim bragged.

“Not so fast, Kim!” Alix called as she bladed up. “I’ll go so fast, my friend, that your brain won’t be able to comprehend what’s going on,” she declared, earning cheers from her classmates.

“I don’t need my brain. My muscles are enough to crush you!” Kim boasted.

“And he’s proud of it...” Alya laughed.

Max chose that time to step up to the two racers. “I have to tell the official rules. You’re going to do two laps around the fountains, about five-hundred metres. The first to pass the line wins the race! If Kim wins, Alix will be obligated to give him her roller blades. If Alix wins, Kim won’t be able to throw down challenges until the end of the school year.”

“We’re fed up of these stupid challenges!” Nathaniel called.

“Yeah! End the challenges!” Ivan echoed. 

“End the challenges!!” Nino parroted.

“On your mark! Get set!” Max began the countdown. The racers got into position, Kim in a sprinter's pose and Alix prepping her kick-off. 

Suddenly, Alix remembered her birthday present from her dad. An antique like that would likely break if it fell out of her shallow pockets and hit the ground at the speeds her and Kim would be going. She didn't want anything to happen to it on the very day she got it. She hadn't even had the opportunity to take a better look at the woman in the dress. “Stop!” she called, causing Kim to fall over on his face in a false start. 

“Knew it! You bailing out?” Kim accused, jumping quickly to his feet and waving his arms about to make himself seem large and impressive.

The sight was honestly funny enough she probably would have done so anyway if she had known what he would do, but still, she turned away and went to the closest spectator, who happened to be Alya from where they were at the starting line and her being prepped to get a photo-finish angle with her camera. “Can you keep this for me please, Alya? I don’t want to drop it during the race.”

“Wait Alix, I can’t, I have to uhh…” Alya tried to explain, holding her phone higher as if to show her visually, but Alix was impatient to start the race and didn't wait to listen.

“Be careful with it. It’s a gift from my dad,” Alix advised, returning to her place with a grin at Kim.

“But...” Alya floundered as the racers were called back to position and began the race. Looking over, she quickly pushed the pocket watch into Marinette's hands, “Marinette, take this. I need to film for the school website!”

Marinette's whole body went rigid in panic. “B-but Alya! Giving me something fragile really isn't--”

“Shh!” Alya shook her off, focusing on the race taking place in front of her.

But Marinette just knew, any second now something would go wrong and she'd drop the watch and ruin the whole event and then Adrien would hate her and Alix would hate her more and everyone would blame her and it would be all her fault and she'd loose all the friends she had been making and--!

Nino, who had come to tolerate her presence over the last month, was holding the other corner of the banner she made, jumping around and cheering, not noticing the small Asian girl's dilemma. A particularly enthusiastic jump on Nino's part nearly pulled Marinette off her feet given how stiffly she was standing in an attempt to not make a move that would damage the watch. She let out a squeak as she watched in almost slow motion as the silver trinket tumbled from her hand and towards the ground. 

Her muscles were too tightly wound to be able to move fast enough for her to make a grab for it, it was going to fall and then was going to break and there was nothing she could do about it! Despite her best efforts, it seemed she was just too clumsy to ever be around anyone. She saw her future flash before her eyes, this month of bliss would end—where people at school would actually talk to her and Adrien smiled at her and she got to go and hang out and actually do things with people—and she'd be back to a place that no one would want anything to do with her. And then she'd miss catching her yo-yo one too many times and Chat Noir would declare he was done with her as well, and then she'd loose Tikki because Ladybug had to work with Chat Noir and then she'd truly be alone again.

And then a hand came out of seemingly no where and caught the falling watch. Following the wrist up, Marinette found herself staring into a pair of kind green eyes and a gentle smile. Marinette's heart skipped a beat. He had saved her. Her, and Alix's watch, and how could she ever hope to express just how very much he meant to her when his every action and shift of expression made him a million times more precious to her.

“Careful, there. Need some help?” he asked smiling at her from just inches away. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, she could only stare in awe and wonder at this boy that was too perfect to be real. When she failed to respond his smile fell slightly, taking on a more forced look as he turned back to the race, still holding the watch securely in his hand.

Chloé turned to look at her childhood friend, standing there looking dejected after another failed attempt to engage the baker girl in conversation. Really, she was lucky he was so dense to social cues or perhaps even his secret crush on that co-worker of his wouldn't have been enough to keep him oblivious to his crush on Dupain-Cheng and she'd have already lost him. Looking for something to distract him, she noticed he was holding something in his hand. 

“What do you have there, Adrichou?” she asked, taking it from him curiously. It was a slightly ornate silver pocket watch, like the sort people would have used a few centuries back.

“Be careful! It’s Alix’s!” Adrien warned, hands hovering as though worried that she'd drop it. Honestly, what did he take her for? The disaster girl? He had been spending too much time around her if he was starting to think everyone was that clumsy.

She pushed his hands away dismissively. “If it belongs to Alix then it can't possibly be worth much of anything! Besides, what's the harm in just looking?” she questioned, pressing down on the lid and effectively ignoring Adrien's annoyed look at her rude comment.

“Give it back to Adrien, Chloé,” Marinette scolded as the racers zipped past in their first lap in the background. Chloé narrowed her eyes at being so openly challenged by the blunette again, and this time in front of Adrien. Like she would ever be anything besides his most ardent support. 

The two girls stared each other down, neither willing to back down as the poor boy looked helplessly between his fighting friends. She read his look, recognizing his unease and knowing what he wanted without him ever having to open his mouth. And for him, not the baker girl, she relented. “Ugh, fine!” she snapped, taking her thumb away from the lid of the watch so she could place it back in Adrien's awaiting palm.

Suddenly the watch emitted a strange blue light, and for a moment Chloé was back in her room, holding her phone that glowed a strange pink moments before Lady WiFi leapt from it and attacked her. Chloé screamed in horror, throwing the object she held away from her so the akuma couldn't jump out and try to kill her again. But it wasn't her cellphone that flew through the air, it was a silver pocket watch, which landed in the racetrack and rolled a little before coming to a stop. 

The blond girl was just catching her breath and coming back to her senses enough to contemplate sending Sabrina out there to go get the watch she had accidentally thrown, when Alix, not watching where she was going and instead looking back over her shoulder to taunt Kim, ran right over the antique. She stumbled as it caught in her blades, nearly causing her to fall over, but she caught herself on her other foot and crossed the finish line to the cheering of her classmates, Kim following her across a few steps later.

“I want a rematch! The false start from earlier threw me off!” Kim complained, always the sore loser. But Alix didn't hear him. She had looked back to see what had caused her to trip and saw her family heirloom in pieces. Kim noticed her distraction as she drifted past him. “Eh?”

Alix dropped to her knees, gathering up the broken parts and fighting back the tears. She turned accusing eyes onto Alya. “You! I trusted you with it!”

“Euhh, I had to film the race so I gave it to Marinette but she had to hold the banner so she gave it to Adrien and then Chloé snatched it from his hand and it fell. Aha and then you rolled over it,” Alya tried to explain nervously under the heated gaze.

“My Pa gave this to me for my birthday. This watch was super precious!” Alix accused, holding the remains to her chest as she turned and started skating away.

“It was an accident! It wasn’t on purpose, Alix!” Marinette stepped forward, trying to explain.

“In any case, I have nothing to do with this,” Chloé insisted, turning her back on the responsibility she had towards the situation. 

“It’s _all_ of your guys’ fault! I just _knew_ involving the disaster girl in anything was a horrible idea! You've _ruined_ my birthday!” Alix screamed at the blunette before turning once more and skating off. 

Marinette was crushed at those words. She knew it was true, involving her in anything anyone was doing was just a recipe for disaster, she never should have tried to come, never tried to participate in things. If it wasn't for her being such a screw up, Adrien and Alya wouldn't have ended up being blamed. Alix's birthday present wouldn't have been destroyed. Adrien's first class event wouldn't have been ruined. She had to find some way to make this right, maybe if they took the pieces to a clock maker they could fix it? 

“Alix, wait!” she called, running after the smaller girl. She could at least suggest them getting it fixed, and then she could pay for it out of her commission money. It wasn't much, but if she could just do that much to take the blame off of Adrien and Alya. After all, he never would have had the watch in the first place for Chloé to take from him if she had just been competent enough to hold on to something for five whole minutes without dropping it.

“Marinette! Mme Chamack’s cake!” Tikki reminded as Marinette continued to run after the girl, trying to catch up to her on her roller blades.

“I still have time! Hide, Tikki!” Marinette insisted, refusing to give up her pursuit as she went further away from their stunned class.

~*~

“That deception, frustration and anger, what a magnificent opportunity for our project! Fly, little akuma, and blacken their heart!”

~*~

Nadja had decided that seeing as the retirement party for the head of programming at TVi started at 3:00 so it didn't get in the way of the evening news, and it was now nearly a quarter after two, she may as well come and pick the cake she had ordered from Tom and Sabine up early. She knew it was their anniversary, and Sabine had been talking about going out to eat last week, so she wanted to get the cake earlier rather than later so she wouldn't make them wait around unreasonably long before they could go. 

The first thing she did was try knocking at the doors, but she got no response. She went around to the side door and tried there as well, but still nothing. Coming back around front she looked in through the glass, but saw no sign of movement. Sighing finally, she dug her phone out of her pocket and dialed up Tom, as he was the one in charge of making the cake.

She held her phone to her ear for a minute before it picked up and Tom's confused voice met her ear. “ _A-allo?_ ”

“Yes hello. I’m in front of the bakery, it’s closed. I need the cake right away,” Nadja informed him.

“ _Yes, I know you need the cake right now. My daughter is at home and didn’t hear you. I’ll call her right away,_ ” he informed her. She sighed, great. Marinette was a sweetheart, and meant well, and Manon adored her, but she was also very accident prone. Oh well, she supposed it wouldn't be too awfully bad so long as she was the one to carry the cake and Marinette only got the door for her. She leaned up against the wall and waited for the young teen to come down.

~*~

“Maybe we can fix it,” Marinette suggested, being annoyingly optimistic as Alix just wanted to be left alone and figure out how she would explain this to her dad. He would be so disappointed. She never should have accepted the watch after all. 

“It was a totally unique watch. No one can fix it,” Alix grumbled.

“We can find a watchmaker to repair it,” Marinette persisted, not listening to Alix's arguments.

“And how? Huh? Go back in time and change the future? When you find a way to fix it, let me know,” Alix finally snapped. She didn't care that the disaster girl flinched away from her, looking guilty and scared. It served her right for not leaving well enough alone. Why couldn't she just figure out that everything she touched gets ruined and just save everyone else the headache of having to deal with her problems by just getting lost already?

If it wasn't for that stupid home-schooled boy that everyone was so bloody smitten with that they had to bend over backwards to accommodate, everyone would have kept their wits about them and left the stupid disaster girl out of this like they should have. 

Marinette's phone rang, causing her to turn away from Alix and dig for it in her purse. When she pulled it out, she noticed it was her dad calling her. “Uh-oh, that’s not a good sign. Allo papa?” she answered the call, turning away from Alix and so completely missing the black butterfly that fluttered passed her and into the skater girl's roller blades.

“ _Chronogirl, I am Le Papillon. I offer you the power to take revenge on those responsible of causing you misfortune, and to go back in time to change the future. But in exchange, you have to do me a favour in return,_ ” Papillon's voice said.

“Okay, that rolls, Papillon,” Alix said, being swallowed by the darkness.

“O-oh, yes, sorry Papa, I was listening to music. But, I set a timer, Mme Chamack shouldn't be there—I-I mean downstairs—for another fifteen minutes!” Marinette was insisting, she turned and glanced over her shoulder, sending a silent apology to Alix as she had to run rather than help her, only to see her bathed in a disturbingly familiar black smoke. “I-I have to go, Papa. I gotta... open the door... for Mme Chamack.” 

She hit the end call button and bolted for cover. She had to hurry and stop this akuma and get back to her home before Mme Chamack called her parents again and they found out she left without permission. 

Meanwhile, the class was discussing how they could make it up to Alix while Adrien watched Marinette try and chase the pinkette down. He glanced over again between ideas being tossed about to see an akuma roller blading towards them. “Run!” he ordered, prompting the class to scatter in all directions. 

The first to fall was Kim. The akuma sped past him, slapping him on the back as she went like some kid playing tag. His body froze mid step, eyes wide and mouth open in a scream that didn't sound. Slowly, as lights lit up on the akuma's roller blades, Kim's body faded away to nothingness.

“Hey, stop! What are you doing?!” Ladybug called as she ran over to where the akuma was watching Kim fade.

“Call me Chronogirl now. I will go back in time and save my watch by using you!” Chronogirl announced, making a dash for Ladybug.

“You can go back in time?” Ladybug questioned, a little concerned about just how powerful akuma could potentially be. “What did you do to that boy? Why’s he disappearing?”

“I absorbed his energy. Finally he’s right. His muscles did serve a purpose. He deserves to disappear for good. And you, too!” Chronogirl explained, lunging at Ladybug again.

The spotted heroine jumped up the steps, where the roller blades on the akuma would be more a hindrance than a help. “Too bad, Chronogirl!” she called as the akuma tried making her way up to Ladybug regardless. A throw of her yo-yo into the wheels on her feet sent the akuma tumbling to the ground below at the bottom of the steps.

Chronogirl noticed Rose cowering around the edge of the stairwell's railing, and reached a hand out to her pitiably. “Oh no, it hurts so much. Please, help me.”

Rose hesitated for a moment, but Alix—akumatized or not—was one of her precious classmates, and if she was hurting, Rose wanted to help any way she could. She went forward, reaching a compassionate hand out to the akumatized girl. Perhaps if shown kindness, the akuma could stop being bad? She didn't have time to register Ladybug's cry of “No!” before her skin touched the akuma's gloved hand and she froze and began fading away.

Chronogirl laughed cruelly as her roller blades lit up a little more. “Dear Rose, your kindness is what ended you.”

“I need to destroy her akuma before everyone disappears for real. Oh, where are you, Chat Noir? I need you!” Ladybug muttered to herself.

Chronogirl took off after Mylène next, who was trying to run as fast as she could after what she had seen happen to Rose. Ladybug had no time to wait and had to dash after her in hopes of protecting the cowardly pacifist. However, she was not Mylène's only protector. A rock clunked against the side of Chronogirl's helmet, causing her balance to shift and her to have to swerve to stay upright. She turned angrily to see who had dared, to find Ivan standing at the edge of some cover, one fist raised threateningly and his feet planted wide. 

“Leave Mylène alone!” he called at her, ready to defend his girlfriend with his life.

Chronogirl smirked at his idiocy. But hey, if he wanted to volunteer himself to her... “As you wish.” She took off after him like a bullet, ignoring Mylène who stumbled behind her into a trip and stopped to watch as Ivan was quickly tagged when the fool of a boy attempted to deck the akuma like some civilian would stand any chance.

Horrified, Ladybug came to Mylène's side and tugged at the stunned girl's arm, but the small, shy girl just sank limply back down like a puppet who's strings had been cut. She moved to lift Mylène in order to carry her to safety, but Chronogirl had noticed Alya trying to film from the side and veered for her. Ladybug abandoned her attempt to rescue Mylène and threw her yo-yo to catch a tree branch so she could put herself in the path to Alya instead. 

However, this proved to just be a feint on Chronogirl's part as the next moment she rocketed back in Mylène's direction. There was nothing over there for Ladybug to latch on to to pull her over and so Mylène was defenceless and didn't even try to struggle as she was tagged, frozen in place staring at the point where Ivan had disappeared until she joined him as temporal energy.

“A minute and a half! You can’t stop me anywhere I go, Ladybug!” Chronogirl bragged.

Ladybug screamed in horror, but before she could make any further move, a whistling stick of silver clocked the akuma upside the head and into the railing of the Trocadéro's stairwell. When her line of sight was cleared, Ladybug saw a rather pissed off looking Chat Noir standing at the far side of a ten-foot silver baton. “Hey! Milady was _fond_ of them!” he snarled at the akuma. “You just ruined her favourite ship!”

“Don’t let her touch you!” Ladybug warned as Chronogirl got up and made a lunge for Chat Noir.

He leapt over her head. “Missed! Within a hair's breadth. Seriously, though, if we're going to be playing cat and mouse, shouldn't it be the other way around?”

The akuma tisked at the jab about her small stature, but turned away from the heroes in order to pursue further victims. She was just tagging anyone she could get her hands on, not focusing on anyone in particular or targeting a group like their class. Chloé and Sabrina fell to her after she got a mom shielding her baby. Chat Noir and Ladybug running after her but she was too fast for them to keep up with. They didn't notice she was leading them around her race course until she had swung back around to where Alya had determinedly been trying to film them. 

By the time the reporter had noticed she was being targeted and tried to make a run for it, it was too late. Chronogirl cleared the small wall she had been hiding behind, and sped down the grassy incline without the slightest hindrance, catching the foreign girl mid air as she had attempted to leap away from the dangerous hands. 

“NO!!” Ladybug wailed as she watched her best friend be erased in front of her.

“For God's sake. She’s not wasting any time, eh?” Chat grumbled. 

“She touches people and gains time to return to the past. And all these poor students…” Ladybug looked out at the now nearly empty tourist attraction. She noticed Juleka had gone and pulled the baby from the stroller it was left in after it's mother had vanished and was now making a break for it across the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower with Max and Nino—who had found a stick somewhere that he was brandishing like a sword to apparently try and protect them if Chronogirl went after them. She spotted Nathaniel hiding under some bushes, though his bright red hair stood out among the sparse green leaves. There was still no sign of Adrien, she just hoped he at least had managed to make it out of the area and to safety. “We can say goodbye to them if we don’t capture this akuma!”

Chronogirl had apparently spotted Nathaniel as she made a lunge for the bush he was hiding under. He screamed somewhat undiginifiably and tried to roll away, but Ladybug saw what she was doing and threw her yo-yo to catch around the akuma's ankle, not letting her reach her target. “Hands off, Chronogirl!”

Chronogirl landed short of her target, but didn't let that dissuade her. As Nathaniel scampered away during the distraction, the akuma knelt down and untied the yo-yo from her ankle and then gave the cord a mighty tug, pulling Ladybug off her feet and dragging her over on her belly to where Chronogirl towered over her. Chronogirl grinned down at the spotted heroine as she tried to get her legs back under her and put some distance between them, but the hand was already moving and she knew she didn't have the time. 

For the second time that day, Ladybug saw the future flash before her eyes. She would be touched and fade out of existence. This akuma would go back in time and do who knows what to the timeline. Alya and everyone else who vanished would never be seen again. Her parents would never know what happened to her and why she never came down from her room. The next akuma, despite Chat's best efforts, would never be purified and it's destruction would rip Paris apart as it was left to multiply infinitely.

And then her vision was filled with black, and it took her a heartbeat to realize the hands holding her weren't Chronogirl's. She blinked, her eyes coming back into focus on the existence of a little black cat-boy frozen kneeling between Chronogirl and herself. His arms cradled her so protectively, so tenderly, trapped in that moment forever as the last act he would ever do. Her hands reached up to return the embrace on instinct, finding a stiff and chilled body that didn't give at all like a normal body would. 

“Chat Noir?” she heard herself question hollowly, forgetting the akuma and turning her large blue eyes to take in his face in his final moments. She found his eyes shut, and face contorted into one of grim determination, not at all like the playful and often flirty boy she had been getting to know. She decided at once she didn't like it, it was a face she was sure she'd be seeing in her nightmares for years to come. “Noooo!” she was sure it would have come out in a scream if her lungs could figure out how to work through this shock, yet as it was it only came out as little more than a whimpering plea. But she wasn't quite sure she hadn't been hit by the akuma's power a little bit, too. What other explanation was there for why it felt like her heart had stopped alongside his.

“Woow, six minutes in one go? This cat has so much energy!” Chronogirl expressed, caring nothing for the scene of the broken heroine before her clinging desperately to the fading remnants of her partner.

The callous voice brought Ladybug back to reality, focused her grief into determination and nearly blinding rage. She had to save her Minou, and there was only one way to do that. The akuma had to go down. She had to cast the Miracle Cure. Then she would get her playful partner back. Nothing could stand in her way. She grit her teeth and glared at the akuma, growling ferally. Ladybug couldn't remember having ever felt so angry in her life, and at the moment she just wanted blood, and knew just where to get it, too. She clung to the cat-boy until he faded away completely and then pushed herself to her feet. 

Chronogirl sneered, “I wonder how much I'll get from you, too?” the akuma lunged, but Ladybug used her yo-yo to grab Chat's discarded staff (he must have used it to vault himself forward in order to get between her and the akuma. He had known he was charging in toward his death, and still he...) and parried the tag by hitting the akuma's wrist away. Using her ankle to hook with Chronogril's, Ladybug kicked her opponent's foot out from under her, the wheels giving no traction to counter the movement, and with the fact she was reaching forward Chronogirl ended up face-planting at Ladybug's feet. Lifting the staff above her head, she brought it down in a piercing motion atop the roller blades.

However, Chronogirl used her current position to swing her legs out of the way and throw herself into a break-dancing spin on her back, feet kicking Ladybug away, before coming to a handstand and righting herself once more. “I’ve got to go. The past awaits,” she said, turning and dashing away, building an electric storm of sickening green energy around her as she went.

Ladybug realized the akuma was attempting to escape, and tossed out her yo-yo in order to snag Chronogirl before she could leave. But because she had been on the ground and had to pull herself up first, the akuma had managed to put some distance between them. Her yo-yo sailed, catching up centimetre by centimetre until finally the weighted end came even with the akuma's wrist. Then, in a flash of light, Chronogirl popped out of existence. Ladybug's yo-yo clattered to the ground, skidding across the cobbled road in a way that likely would have scuffed the casing if it weren't for it being a magical yo-yo. 

Ladybug stared baffled for a moment, not quite able to comprehend what just happened, before her legs seemed to loose all strength in them and she fell to her knees. She still couldn't take her eyes off the spot the akuma had been moments before. Or maybe it was minutes. Or hours. Time seemed to have no further meaning, she had failed. Chat Noir was dead. Alya was dead. Ivan, and Mylène, and over half her other classmates were all dead. And Ladybug couldn't do a thing about it. There was no akuma to purify, and without a purification, the Miracle Cure couldn't be cast.

Reality started sinking in to Ladybug's mind as tears formed in her eyes. She had failed, and there was no way to fix it. She had failed, and everyone was staying dead. She had failed, and it was all her fault. If she was better, faster, less of a screw-up, everything would have been fine. If she had never tried to come out of her shell, none of this would have happened. If she hadn't been so caught up on the idea of trying to be there for Adrien and spend those extra few minutes with him, everyone would have had a happy outing. She had failed, and now everyone else was having to pay for it.

She clutched Chat's staff to her chest, curling around it in her grief as she wailed alone in the empty square. No one would come and comfort her this time, she had already lost everyone who cared. Her pained sobs seemed to echo around her as she rocked herself back and forth, begging her mind to just let her wake up and for today to have just been some horrible nightmare. It would be okay if it was, she'd even agree to tell Chat who she was under the mask if he'd just show up again and give her that suggestive smile of his. She'd give him her number. She'd tell Adrien she loved him. She'd give Alya every interview she could want. Anything, if only today could be undone.

A pair of hands clasped over her eyes. “Whoops! How did _that_ happen? You were supposed to catch a ride back in time with that akuma, Baby Bug! Oh well, sorry about that!” a strangely jovial voice of a woman said, right behind Ladybug's ear. Chat's staff clattered to the ground as Ladybug reached up to try and pull the hands away, but before she could even get a hold of them, she was pulled back and found herself falling through the ground.

✧✦✧✦✧

The only thing Ladybug registered before her back hit the roof of the Trocadéro was a pair of white gloves pulling away from her eyes and receding back into a white circle that was quickly closing in on itself. Then there was a jolt of pain, and then the sounds of the world came back to her ears. The sounds of hundreds of people milling around, talking and laughing as any other day, not the near deafening silence that had plagued her world moments before.

Ladybug rolled over onto her side, eyes casting out to the scene taking place below. She watched sort of surreally as Marinette ran up to where her classmates were gathered, displaying the banner she had made. She felt a little queasy as she took in every smiling face that had faded from existence before her very eyes. Could this really be happening? Was she really being given a second chance? Or had she simply gone crazy from the grief and guilt of it all and began hallucinating?

As Ladybug looked on, Marinette and Alya made their way over to the starting line, Nino even sharing a smile with the blunette when he took the other corner of the banner from her before stepping aside. When was it that he had stopped avoiding her? It had happened so slowly she couldn't really remember. Adrien hovered behind them, with Chloé and Sabrina orbiting around him as the centre of her universe. 

But even as the racers took their places and Kim fell on his face from that false start (earning a wet chuckle from Ladybug at all of his antics that usually would have bothered her) she realized that the blond boy wasn't watching them, but instead had his almond eyes fixated on Marinette. Ladybug's heart fluttered as the pocket watch was passed over to Marinette, and her past self panicked, as oblivious to the eyes trained on her as she had been in the past. That was how he had caught the watch when it fell, she realized with a cutting clarity, he had known to catch it because he had been watching her when she dropped it.

A strange sort of giddiness bubbled up in the boy as he watched the girl everyone had rejected, joining in and being accepted. Though he could tell quite clearly that she was nervous and shy to be participating among everyone for what seemed, given everyone's reaction when he had insisted she not be left out, for the first time in at least a very long while, it still touched him that they could be here together. More so even than his own inclusion, somehow it had become such that the fact she was being included meant the world to him.

His classmates really were nice people, and he knew this was just the start. From here on out, for him and Marinette both, they could have their happy school life, full of wacky high jinx that they would be able to look back and remember fondly for the rest of their lives. Fireworks and festivals and just hanging out between classes. With Nino and Chloé and Alya and Sabrina and everyone else as well. Friendships that would last forever peppered with sunset walks where they talked about nothing and everything all at once. It would be great, and it filled him with a warm fuzzy feeling to think he'd be the catalyst to Marinette getting all of that. 

Marinette let out a small yelp, being pulled off balance by an extra exuberant jump on Nino's part while he cheered for Alix. On Adrien's other side, Chloé was one of the few cheering for Kim. Adrien noticed Alix's watch that Alya had handed off to Marinette fall from her fingers as she tried to regain her footing and not fall completely. Without thinking, Adrien's hand lunged forward and caught the silver watch, turning his kind and understanding smile on to the blunette. He had noticed she could get a little clumsy when she started getting too far ahead of herself and tried to do too much in one moment, like her body was trying to go multiple ways at once until she ended up tripping herself up on her own feet.

But even though he could tell she was extremely nervous at the moment, he just tried to reassure her and help her calm down. But he couldn't touch her, he reminded himself, that had just upset her last time and she had ended up passing out after Chloé had the smarts to try and remove him from her presence so she could calm down. He didn't know why he was so intimidating in her eyes, but if he tried to be as meek and understanding and patient as possible with her, surely she would stop being scared of him one of these days.

“Careful, there. Need some help?” he asked smiling at her from where he hovered, he wanted to stay close when she was this wound up, to make sure that she didn't hurt herself if she passed out again. The least he could do would be catch her if she fell, to make up for failing to help her the last time she had a panic attack. But the longer she stood there frozen, the more self-conscious he got. Maybe he shouldn't pay her so much mind, if he was one of the main reasons she got into these panic attacks? 

He forced his eyes off of her large, round, sky blue ones that reminded him so much of his Lady it made it hard to look away. He scolded himself for falling into that trap again. Even though the atmosphere around them were so completely different, Marinette resembled Ladybug so strongly from what he could remember of her that it was hard not to use her as a substitute. That was anything but fair to Marinette, who deserved for him to come to care for her in her own right as the friend he hoped she would one day become, rather than a stand-in for a completely different girl who happened to be the love of his life. Maybe she had picked up on some of that and that was why she was so scared of him? He seriously hoped not, that would make things so very uncomfortable between them and he really did want to reach a point where he and Marinette could call each other friend. 

But still, even though he was trying to give her some space so she could stop freaking out, he couldn't bring himself to physically distance himself from her, worried that she would pass out again. So he stood awkwardly, pretending to ignore her so she wouldn't feel threatened by him watching her, while trying his hardest to stare at her with his peripheral vision in case her panic got worse and she needed serious help. Chloé must have noticed his odd behaviour, because suddenly she was focused on him and holding his arm in guiding support. 

“What do you have there, Adrichou?” she asked, pulling the silver pocket watch from his yielding grasp and examining it critically. 

“Be careful! It’s Alix’s!” Adrien informed her, not sure if it was really okay for the watch to be handed around the class like this or if he should take it back and keep it safe himself. Alix had technically only given Alya permission to handle it, and he didn't want her getting hurt or angry because they were showing something private and precious around to everyone without her permission. But his hands hovered, hesitant to just take it back from Chloé because... well, because she was Chloé and he trusted her.

She pushed his hands away dismissively. “If it belongs to Alix then it can't possibly be worth much of anything! Besides, what's the harm in just looking?” Adrien frowned at that. He knew that for children like him and Chloé, their abundant piles of _stuff_ held little to no meaning, so he couldn't exactly blame the girl for being flippant about material objects. But he'd have to take her aside later and explain to her that for people who didn't have the money to just buy a new copy of whatever, their possessions that they _could_ afford became more precious and treasured as a result. It was rude to look down on Alix for not coming from a family as rich as either of theirs and it was wrong of Chloé to decide the trinket held no value merely because it wasn't some state-of-the-art brand-named thing that would be obsolete by the next upgrade.

But just then, a flash of green light, more yellow than Plagg's energy, filled the class's vision. A moment later it cleared to what could only be an akuma standing in the middle of the race track, turning her large, bug-like eyes onto the class. Chloé screamed, jumping back and flailing her arms about in horror and panic, hand loosening on the pocket watch enough that it slipped out of her hand and sailed into the wall behind them, breaking at the force of the impact. 

“My watch!” the akuma screamed at the same moment Alix did. “Chloé! It's all your fault! I need more energy. I need to go farther back in time!” the akuma insisted, lunging towards the students. 

“Run!” Adrien instructed, shoving Chloé into Sabrina with one hand while grabbing Marinette's arm with the other and hauling the stunned girl to safety. 

~*~

Le Papillon was baffled when a connection formed to an akuma he had not yet sent out. “How is this possible? A supervillain, coming from the future? I cannot pass up this incredible occasion. Fly, demonic akuma, and join this troubled soul!”

~*~

“Everyone, hide! Don’t let her touch you!” Ladybug ordered, dropping down between Chronogirl and her classmates. Marinette gasped at seeing this imposter, swinging her yo-yo around before her like a shield as she tried to herd the class towards the stairs. 

However, Marinette couldn't do anything at the moment as Adrien dragged her off to a little nook that he pushed her inside of. “Stay here until Ladybug and Chat Noir take care of everything!” he insisted, holding her by the biceps and pushing her firmly but gently into the hiding spot he had selected for her. He didn't move away or break eye contact until she managed to nod at him, then he turned and hurried off to find somewhere to hide himself. 

As soon as she was sure she was alone, Marinette demanded, “Tikki, what's going on? Why is there another Ladybug there? Is it a trick from Papillon?”

“No, I can feel it, she's the real deal! But both that other Ladybug and the akuma are bathed in temporal energies,” Tikki explained.

“Meaning...?”

“That seeing as you have never come across that akuma before, they are likely from the future,” ze clarified.

“Huh? That’s so bizarre!” Marinette whined. “Tikki, transform moi!”

By the time Ladybug and Chat Noir were dropping down along side the other Ladybug, the poor futuristic heroine was trying to battle two copies of Chronogirl by herself. This more consisted of her making a shield with her yo-yo that she was using to deflect incoming lunges from one akuma while the other zipped around snatching up victims, but they regularly switched which was doing what so technically she was still battling both.

Chat Noir looked a little dumbfounded as he glanced between the two Ladybugs. “Huh? What? Twins?” was his initial guess.

“Chat Noir, no time to explain! But we need to capture Chronogirl’s akuma in her roller blades! Your life depends on it,” the Ladybug already fighting insisted in that tone she used when she was telling him about her plan for her Lucky Charm. Chat took a split second to take in this Ladybug—really take her in—and noticed the agitated edge to her determined expression, the dried tear streaks on her cheeks, the way her eyes were rimmed red. 

“Umm, which life? I’ve got nine,” he tried to joke as he lunged at the akuma's feet with his staff, forcing Chronogirl back so he could place himself between her and his Lady. She was upset, he had to help alleviate her stress.

“I’m serious!” she snapped, her voice raw with desperation and grief. 

“Oh, good! The black kitty again! Here, minou minou! I need to go back and get my watch!” one of the Chronogirls said, abandoning the chase against random civilians to drift over towards the cat-boy. 

His gut churned at the idea of some other girl calling him 'Minou', that's what his Lady called him, it was special. He was about to object to the fact when the other Chronogirl spoke up. “Hold it, what do you mean _your_ watch? _My_ watch only broke because you showed up and made Chloé throw it! If anyone deserves to go back and get their watch, it's me!”

Taking their moment of internal conflict to his advantage, Chat turned to the two Ladybugs, eyeing them appreciatively and trying to see if he couldn't work out which one was his Lady love. But they looked too much alike, not even the placement of their freckles seemed different. Was this how things were like for other people when they saw him and Félix together? Could twins be this identical even? “Mind telling me what's going on with all the doubles today?”

Forcing a sigh to calm down, though not taking her eyes off of the bickering akuma, the teary-eyed Ladybug explained. “They touch people and steal their energy—make them disappear—so they can go back in time. We have to get the akuma, without it I can't...” she couldn't bring herself to continue, the tears at the memory of everyone she failed to save welling up in her eyes again. This was her last chance, and she couldn't lose it, no matter what. 

Chat lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it comfortingly, “Shhh, it's okay. I'm here, we'll put it all right, I promise.”

The other Ladybug bristled at him taking advantage of her future self's emotional state to steal a kiss on her hand like that. “Hey!” she objected for her other's sake. 

Chat pulled the yielding Ladybug to his side with one arm, smiling at the objecting one. “Don't worry, Milady, I'll keep you safe, too,” he promised reaching out and pulling the other Ladybug to him as well, so he had one Ladybug pressed up against each of his sides. And though he tried not to, he had to admit to at least himself he really enjoyed that sensation. As the future Ladybug snuggled closer, desperate for confirmation of his existence, the modern Ladybug gave him a shove and pulled herself away from him. 

“Akuma, remember?” she snapped, her words pulling her future self back to reality. The other Ladybug wiped her tears away on Chat's collarbone before stepping back and turning to face the akuma, eyes alight with determination. 

“So I'll get Cat Boy and you get the two Bugs, okay?” one of the Chronogirls were saying to the other.

“How do we know that's even fair?” the other was arguing.

The two Ladybugs exchanged glances with each other before nodding and calling out in unison, “Lucky Charm!” The Ladybug from the future got a bicycle lock whilst the one from the current time got a traffic cone. 

At the way the two looked blankly at their own Lucky Charms and then eyed each others, Chat sighed. This would be another convoluted plan that would take his Ladies a bit to put together. “Right, I'll take point and distract them while you lovely ladies work out what to do with those!” With that, he jumped away from where the two were working out a plan and called to the akuma, “So, which one of you is the one who is good enough to get all my delicious, delicious energy?”

The akuma both looked to him, looked to each other, and then both lunged forward with a sudden cry of “Me!” However, their strong competitive nature and inability to work together caused them to tangle on each other, and instead of either reaching him, they fell to the ground in a jumbled heap of limbs. Chat took the opportunity to make a swipe at their feet, but they pulled away before he could land a solid blow. 

The first Chronogirl back on her feet tried for Chat again, forcing him back a few steps. Then the other tried to push her way past, and Chat was driven further away. He danced them in this manner around in a few circles and a figure eight while his Ladies did their thing. The future Ladybug couldn't focus, though, her eyes glued to the parrying kitty in worry, dreading losing him again at any moment. 

But the other Ladybug was there to pick up the slack and after taking note of the portable sign to Andre's ice cream cart she had an idea. “Ladybug, we need to use your Lucky Charm to tangle their legs together permanently! You get Chat to help you with that, then I'll get them to charge right at me together. When they fly in the air, use your yo-yo to snag their roller blades. The momentum should be enough to pull the blades off!”

“I... r-right!” her future self relented running forward to get Chat's help while her modern self used the cone and sign to make an impromptu ramp. She then positioned herself so that she was blocking the view of it and watched her other self complete her part of the plan.

The other Ladybug used her yo-yo to snag Chat around the midsection and yank him over to her. “We need to get this around their feet!” she informed him, holding up the bicycle lock. 

“Right, on it!” he said, plucking the charm from her hands and moving to get the job done.

“No!” Ladybug cried, catching his belt tail and stopping him from charging back into the fight. “Not you!”

Chat pulled to a stop and turned to her, easing her grip on his tail off and lifting one of her hands to his lips again. “I have to. You're the important one here, you're the only one that can put things right again. It's okay, Milady, I trust you. You'll fix everything, I know you will, so let me be your spear.”

As the baffled Ladybug tried to figure out what Chat meant by being her spear—honestly, he didn't even have a spear—he slipped away and headed for the pair of akuma who were charging them. He cartwheeled himself between them, using the moment to lock their feet together. They overbalanced and fell, nearly hitting the future Ladybug, but she used her yo-yo to get out of the way at the last second.

That was when his Ladybug called out, “Hey! Look at you two, can't work together for anything! I bet you couldn't even touch me like that for all the energy in the world!” she taunted, swinging her yo-yo in lazy arcs. 

She knew Alix, knew the girl would never back down from a direct challenge like this, and was counting on that personality trait to have transferred over to the akuma. And sure enough, she wasn't disappointed as the two Chronogirls pulled each other to their feet and scoffed. “Oh yeah, we'll just see about that!” They began speeding towards her, their combined force of push-off letting them speed faster than they ever had individually. They grinned at this new, unexpected advantage. With this, they'd be able to get all the energy they needed to go back in no time at all!

Ladybug jumped at the last moment, barely clearing the pair of akuma as she twisted herself over their heads. At the speed they were going, they didn't have time to veer out of the way of the ramp that Ladybug had been blocking from their view and so careened off of it with no other choice. Two spotted yo-yos shot out, wrapping themselves around the roller blades and yanking them off as the akuma tumbled to the ground.

The modern Ladybug ripped the wheels off the one she held, while the future one dropped hers to the ground and stomped on it to crush the hard plastic casing. Two purple butterflies made valiant attempts to flee, but were soon captured and purified. Chat stepped up to his Ladies as they retrieved their charms and threw them into the air for the Miracle Cure. He held up his fists, and each girl bumped knuckles with one of his and used their other hand to fist bump each other. 

“Oh!” the future Ladybug suddenly cried, “Papa's call! You would have mis--” she failed to get any more out before the swarm of ladybugs whisked her back to her own timeline.

“Papa?” the remaining Ladybug questioned. 

“Shame, I was really starting to enjoy having two of you to appreciate...” Chat Noir said, leaning in to the remaining Ladybug flirtatiously. 

“Well, now you'll have to get used to none of me. I got to go find out what that call was supposedly about. Bug out!” 

Chat sighed, and went to grab the watch from the ground. He supposed it was for the best, after all. Wherever that other Ladybug got sent to, he didn't want to deprive his other timeline self of his Lady just so he could have two of her, and what would she do about her civilian side? Though he definitely would have offered to take her home with him and hide her in his room until they could come up with a better solution. Not like he didn't have enough space for it.

But enough what ifs, he still had to go make sure Marinette was alright, and at least he got to find out that Ladybug had a father she called 'Papa'. That... helped narrow down the search? He guessed? But it was something else he could use to verify her identity once he found some girls who could be Ladybug. “Here, I believe this belongs to you,” he said, handing the now fixed watch over to Alix.

“Wow! Cool! How’d you fix it?” she exclaimed, taking the heirloom gently in her hands.

“Magic!” he told her with a wink.

“Thank you! I should never have asked someone else to take care of it,” the pinkette expressed, tucking the watch back into her pocket. “I was responsible for it. It’s my fault.”

“Accidents happen. While it's important to take your responsibilities seriously, sometimes things go beyond our control. Just try from now on to be more understanding and not be in such a rush when asking others for help that you don't listen when they say they can't,” Chat Noir advised.

“Right... I-I'll work harder on that,” Alix promised. 

He smiled at her, he was happy his classmates were such nice people. “I need to get going now, though, okay?” She nodded, and he took off.

~*~

Marinette ran up to where Mme Chamack was on the phone looking rather put out. “I'm sorry!” she cried as she came to the bakery. “I ran out of neon green thread and you had said you'd be showing up at 2:30 so I thought I had time to step out and grab some more! I'm so sorry!”

Nadja sighed and told the phone, “It's fine, she's here.” Marinette unlocked the door and helped Mme Chamack to get her cake. The reporter was barely on her way out the door when Marinette's phone rang again. She pulled it up to find Alya's face smiling at her. 

Hitting the talk button, she brought the phone to her ear. “Alya?”

“ _Girl, where are you? Adrien's freaking out! Something about telling you to hide somewhere until the akuma was dealt with but you not being there..._ ”

“A-Adrien is?!” Marinette panicked, her heart speeding up at the news. “S-sorry! I-I-I home! I mean! Scared ran! I mean! I scared ran home!” she babbled, causing Alya to laugh. 

She heard her pass on the message, and Adrien's worried sounding voice saying something she couldn't make out on the other end. Alya then stated, “ _Sunshine wants me to ask if you're okay, if you're still on your feet, and where you are so he can send his driver to make sure you get home alright._ ”

“I-I'm fine, I'm nearly home anyway so-so don't worry. I'm fine,” she insisted, touched that her crush cared for her well being so much.

“ _Almost home? Girl, we're kilometres from your house! If you could make it all that way that quickly, maybe it should be you taking Kim on in a race rather than Alix!_ ”

Marinette groaned. “Please, no. A-anyway, it's more like three-quarters of the way? Or-or three-fifths? But you know,” she forced a laugh, “adrenaline and all that...”

“ _Okay, okay, I get you. I promise I'll keep the Sunshine Child from scouring the city for your corpse, just take care of yourself and get home safe, alright? See you in class tomorrow, love you._ ”

“Mmm, love you, too.”

~*~

It was evening, and Adrien was supposed to be studying his Chinese, but his mind was preoccupied elsewhere. “I held two Ladybugs in my arms today...” he sighed dreamily. He was trying to see if muscle memory would tell him how it felt for him to hold them, even if he couldn't recall any of the sensations. He was pretty sure his body had curled around them, so that meant she was shorter than him, right? “And she even let me kiss her hand! Twice!”

Plagg was doing hir best to ignore hir love-sick holder, focusing instead on savouring hir cheese.

But Adrien remembered the tear-streaked cheeks, the way she had snuggled down into his neck as she had clung back to him, the desperate way she tried to stop him facing the Chronogirls alone, and her words: “ _your life depends on it._ ” He knew, despite how he tried to ignore it, that he had failed her. He had died in that future timeline and left his Lady all alone and it had broken her, left her desperate and terrified.

“Plagg... I died today...” Adrien finally admitted aloud. The clarity of that statement was chilling.

“No, you didn't. I would have known if you died,” Plagg insisted.

But Adrien just shook his head. “Milady came back from the future chasing that akuma, and I wasn't with her. I died.”

“Maybe, or maybe you just didn't come back with her,” ze reasoned.

“Milady was crying, it doesn't matter if I had to destroy the very laws of physics themselves, if I was alive, I wouldn't have abandoned Milady when she was upset like that. I would have found a way to follow her,” Adrien said with such conviction in his voice Plagg had to yield on that point.

“Then likely you were dead. I did warn you that the bad luck was accumulating, it even caused you to break that little bunny's watch,” ze shrugged, refusing to be affected by this knowledge. Just because this was hir best candidate didn't mean ze couldn't still be transferred to another holder instead. There was a possibility that to do so would mean taking back the red beetle earrings, but worse things had happened before.

Adrien bypassed the strange choice of nicknames Plagg chose for Alix and focused on the other part of that statement. “But I didn't break the watch, it broke when Chloé threw it into the wall...”

“Which happened to the solid silver watch that had survived generations of children playing with it and banging it around only to be destroyed after your friend tossed it... which she only did because she took notice of it from being in your hands. Trust me, kid, I can feel these things as clearly as I can feel the cells in your body slowly breaking down with age or the way my Camembert continues to curdle, getting more potent with time. All destruction everywhere is me, from the dying sun on the other side of the universe to the breaking bonds as your body catabolizes your dinner. Telling where there's a build up of it laying in wait is just something I can do.”

“Then how do I let it off?” Adrien pressured. “Do I-do I go break a bunch of stuff on purpose or something? Buy a notebook so I can rip up all the paper in it?” 

“ _You_ don't do anything, it's the Bug that has to counter it. Though ripping paper might just be a fun thing to do anyway,” Plagg admitted with a grin.

Adrien fumed over the lack of progress. “There has to be something. You said last week there was something else I could do to be stronger and more capable for Milady! Explain it to me!” he ordered. 

Of course, the boy didn't realize what he had done, didn't know about the compulsion that all kwami were bound to from their Miraculous holders. Ze couldn't blame the kid for stealing hir free will without ever meaning to, but at that moment ze couldn't keep the betrayal out of the glare, too many previous holders hurting their kwamis in that way flashing through the protective entity of destruction's mind. 

“You complete the magical contract,” Plagg was forced to say. “If you agree to sacrifice your humanity for power, you'll become stronger, faster, and basically invulnerable to physical damage while transformed.”

“You can do that? Why didn't you tell me before?” Adrien questioned.

“Because you're not in the right head-space!” Plagg tried to reason.

“But I can protect Ladybug that way!” Adrien argued. “If I'm stronger and faster and can't get hurt, I can keep her safe!”

“That's exactly what I mean...” Plagg said in defeat. The child was too obsessed right now, he didn't understand the severity of the decision, didn't understand how badly it could go wrong, wasn't even paying attention to the cost. All he heard was the part he wanted to hear, because that's all he could focus on at the moment. “Sorry, kid...” ze whispered, before speaking up again. “You need to make the conscious decision that you want it. State in a way that under no condition could be misinterpreted to be anything but the full agreement that you will permanently sacrifice part of your humanity to me, the kwami of destruction, in exchange for an increase in power. And then you have to bleed for it.”

“Bleed?” Adrien questioned.

“Yeah, you have to ceremonially cut yourself and make a blood offering to me to finish off the deal,” Plagg explained.

“Do I need a special knife or something for it?”

The kwami sighed, ze had hoped for a moment that it would have been enough to convince hir holder to rethink this decision. “No, just something sharp enough to slice your skin easily.”

Adrien nodded and left to go find what he would need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this chapter was going to be longer, with the actual ceremony being played out, but... just the visualization of him ceremonially cutting himself was... gah! Look, just... blood sacrifices and ritualistic self-harm were things old cultures did some times to pray to their gods. There's evidence of it from enough places around the world to prove it was a very, very old religious practice that eventually faded out as people realized that they didn't like getting hurt. Like ritualistic cannibalism and insets to preserve royal bloodlines. Eventually people figured out it's better to just not. 
> 
> And as for our dear readers, you are not a magically powered superhero with a need to make a stronger connection to a god that grants you special powers. You cutting yourself will do nothing but cause you pain and potentially permanent damage. Please don't. Find some other way to deal with the stress, find a councillor or an online friend you can talk to or something.
> 
> Other than that, I have furthered Marinette's relationship with her classmates, but as you can see there's still a clear divide between those who support her inclusion and those who don't, with sweet Rose trying to make everyone happy as the middle ground moderator. And I didn't mean to bash Alix in this, but she's angry and not thinking strait and what she had to say/think was what most of the class had been thinking about Marinette up until this point. No one in this story is perfect, everyone has flaws and things they have to get over, even the minor characters in the background.


	9. Chevalier Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Class elections are up and Marinette puts herself out there to prevent Chloe from having a win-by-default. But how can an unpopular girl like her get the sort of support she needs to win? And when the akuma shows up with no Ladybug in sight, is this newly-powered up Chat Noir enough to win the day by himself?
> 
> _____________________________________
> 
> “I have a plan to crush that goody-two-shoes Dupain-Cheng once and for all, but I need your help,” Chloé admitted after a few minutes of serious thought. 
> 
> “But... I thought taking action against her would prove she's worthy to be seen as a threat?” Sabrina innocently said, echoing Aurore from earlier. 
> 
> Chloé seethed that her closest remaining friend would listen to that backstabbing brat like that, but struggled to force herself not to go off on the red haired girl for it. “I will not tolerate anyone thinking they can upstage me like that! I'll beat her down so badly she won't even think of lifting a finger against me for years!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the gap between chapters. October was... not good for me. Early in the month, my dog died unexpectedly from a stroke, which resulted in me falling into a deep depression. Paired with chronic migraines I was laid out for almost a full month, hardly able to get out of bed. If I did any writing at all, it was usually only a few sentences and though I knew what I wanted to write, I just couldn't stand to look at something so bright as a screen or anything to type. I also kind of liked the 123,300-something word count the story had, and was kind of tempted to go in and alter it somehow so it would have a 123,456 word cout instead because I'm a dork like that.
> 
> However, I did take a good amount of that time to do things like design future OC akuma, past miraculous wielders, other non-miraculous heroes and villains, etc. Which brings me to a question to my readers: I started this story before the New York Special came out, where our only look into the American team was that one MLB comic. The team had no name, no information about them, and many of their appearances were quite a bit different. So, do people want me to go back to those earlier chapters and edit some of it to be a little more in line with the United Heroz? Or are you fine with me just sticking to the League of Heroes and everything I make up about them?
> 
> And on one last note, any time Chat in this or future chapters makes a cat-like sound, imagine an actual cat noise coming out of him, not just him saying the word in question. I'll be getting into more about his side-effects later in future chapters, but I wanted to bring attention here to all the little changes without bogging down the fight scenes more than they already were. This is a 25,020 word chapter after all.

“ _...Invitation list to the gala celebrating the new Heroes of Paris was just released. Everyone that's anyone in France will be there this Saturday night to pay homage to the new superheroes, and invitations have even been extended to the members of the League of Heroes. And of course TVi will be covering this red carpet event live with our very own..._ ”

Yesterday's news broadcast played on Marinette's computer screen as she fiddled with her screwdriver. She had always wanted to try making one of these ever since she saw it in an old movie once, but getting the pressure pad made correctly was a finicky process. “What is this box, Marinette?” Tikki asked, floating over with a cookie.

“It's a trick box. I'm making it to store my diary in here. Now that I'm starting to have friends over, I want somewhere secure to put it away so no one accidentally gets a peak at it and learns something I don't want them knowing,” Marinette reasoned. She thought she may have finally adjusted the pressure pad correctly this time and just had to set it up and test it. She carefully put her diary into the box, making sure to push it down to prep the trap.

“Wait, wait! Don’t tell me you’re writing everything you do in this diary...” Tikki expressed, putting down hir cookie.

“The therapist I used to go to said it was important, to help me process my thoughts on things I'm not comfortable talking to others about, and to put things in perspective so I don't panic about irrelevant and minor things,” Marinette explained.

“Well first of all, can you imagine if someone read it and found out you’re Ladybug? And secondly, _can you imagine if someone read it and found out you are Ladybug_?!” Tikki scolded.

“Well, it's not like I can talk about any of this Ladybug stuff with anyone else!” she insisted.

“I'm here, aren't I?” Tikki objected, and Marinette stopped herself from making a potentially hurtful comment about that. Really, was it so evil of her to want a second opinion on things sometimes? Or maybe just talk to someone on her own wavelength rather than something that not only was unbelievably old but also wasn't even human? Tikki didn't understand what it was to be a teenaged girl in this day and age, couldn't relate to the pressures of going to collège and crushing on a boy way out of hir league. Ze was far too focused on ensuring Marinette remained a paragon of truth and righteousness to be someone she could turn to with all of her problems.

“Then you can help me, right? Here, try and take my diary from the box,” Marinette prompted instead.

Tikki still looked displeased, but flew down to do as asked. As soon as Tikki shifted the diary, however, the lid of the box snapped shut and locked itself closed. Tikki squeaked in surprise, letting out a string of words in a language Marinette didn't recognize as the box jiggled about a moment as ze tried to lift the lid before phasing through the top of it looking far from impressed.

“It worked!” Marinette merely cheered, bouncing a little on her seat as she clapped to herself. “And to get it open...” Marinette pulled a long gold chain from her neck and showed the small ornate key that hung from it hidden under her shirt. She placed it into the slit on the lid and turned it, before lifting the now unlocked lid.

“ _Yesterday, unsurprisingly, M Bourgeois beat out his opponent at the debate. Here he is with his daughter after the..._ ” her computer continued to chatter.

“Take a look at Chloé! It seems like it’s _her_ that had won the debate...” Marinette grumbled as she watched the footage of Chloé beaming smugly at the cameras as she waved. Then suddenly Marinette's eyes landed on the clock in the corner of her screen and gave a gasp, jumping to her feet and screaming, “I'm gonna be late!”

~*~

Marinette's heart still hammered in her chest. Mlle Bustier's app had paired her with Adrien this morning for their daily compliments and while he had gone on about how incredibly nice she was, always bringing in treats from her family's bakery for everyone, all she had managed to get out was a garble of nonsense that had ended with something about eyes. He had smiled patiently at her and said thank you all the same, and really, how was it possible for there to be such an amazingly perfect person in existence?

Really, even when she was a complete spaz—even when all she had managed to be around him for the last month since she stopped misjudging him was a complete spaz—he never held it against her and was always so patient and understanding. He was like some sort of dream come to life, too perfect to be real and yet there he was for her to see and hear and she had even ended up in his arms that one time. And he was always saving her, like when she tripped with the celebratory cupcakes and he gave his to Alya after he caught her, or when she dropped Alix's watch and he caught it for her, or when she was stuck waiting for the rain to let up and he gave her his umbrella. Really, someone so wonderful as him, how could she avoid falling in love?

She was pulled, somewhat reluctantly, from her fantasizing about the kind blond boy with the gorgeous green eyes that sat in front of her by Mlle Bustier starting the class. “As it is now entering into October, and you've all had a chance to start getting to know each other for those of you who are new or haven't shared a class in a few years, I feel it is time to bring up the subject of class representative. Up to this point, I know Chloé has been nice enough to be filling the role as a continuation of her duties last year, but an official declaration needs to be made. I have here on the board a sign up sheet, and anyone thinking of running for the position should put their name down by noon. I'll announce the candidates after lunch and everyone can take the week to decide who they will vote for.”

Chloé, unsurprisingly, got up and signed the paper right away as the very first name on the list. It was practically tradition after all these years, Chloé was always class representative of whatever class she was part of. Those few times in those early years where someone had tried to run against her had always ended up a big mess, with shattered reputations and targeted bullying. People had just sort of given up after the third year of it, too scared of what would happen to them if they dared to cross the Mayor's little princess. Rumour even had it that she had gotten someone's parents fired from work because they had crossed her, though Marinette wasn't really sure she believed that one. 

However, it was one of Chloé's primary sources of power over the other children in their class that gave her the teacher's ear and therefore control over how class resources were distributed. If she was ever to be removed from her throne, she had to lose her position of power over everyone else so that everything would be an even playing field. And Marinette had sworn that she would put an end to Chloé's reign, that the days of everyone being under her thumb were over. Yet, Marinette had so many responsibilities and obligations, from helping out at the bakery to her commissions to being Ladybug.

But she had decided Chloé was going to be her Ladybug practice, hadn't she? That while Marinette might not be enough to take down Le Papillon, she was enough to face down a class bully, and that it would help her find the courage and confidence to face worse threats in the future. Majestia had said, _“The only thing that lets evil prevail is the inaction of good men.”_ Alya, who was so strong and brave and confident practically lived by those words. Marinette wanted to be more like Alya, out going and friendly and able to stand up to anyone. 

“Alya...? Do you think... that is, are you... would you be willing to try out for the class president position?” Marinette asked in a whisper part way through class. 

“No can do. My blog is a full time job,” Alya insisted in like, shaking her head. “But you should totally try out for it!”

Marinette stuttered, “Ah, well, the thing is, I'm way too busy...”

“With what, oversleeping?” Alya teased. It was a little hurtful that her own responsibilities were being brushed off as inconsequential, but then again it wasn't like Marinette could tell Alya about having to always be available for akuma. Still, she was trying to start her own business as well as helping out her parents and babysitting Manon, surely that was as time-consuming on their own as running a blog?

But, if no one else would do it, and it definitely had to get done, she supposed the responsibility would fall to her. “I guess I would run if no one else did.”

And so that's how it came about, Marinette signing her name down on the line right under Chloé's as the class filed out for lunch. Somehow, it felt like she was signing a deal with the devil, but Marinette did her best to shake the feeling off. It was only class presidency, she shouldn't make such a huge deal of it. Though while most their classmates walked past without paying the baker's daughter any mind, her action did not go unnoticed by everybody.

Chloé fumed at the blatant challenge from the disaster girl. Ever since the arrival of Alya Césaire, the self-proclaimed journalist, Dupain-Cheng had been acting out and butting her nose in places she didn't belong. It was like every action Chloé tried to take was being purposefully singled out and targeted by the two of them and countered. They had already invaded her privacy and publicly outed her cosplaying, and now they were going to destroy her resume by taking her perfect streak of class presidency from her? She needs that boost to her credentials in the future when she enters the business world to show her leadership and organization skills are paramount so she can climb to CEO at a reasonable rate without having to do something unsavoury as marry into the situation. 

What did Dupain-Cheng even want the job for, to begin with? How was it going to improve her future station in life? Unlike the fashion industry, which was very welcoming to both men and women so long as one had the talent, business was a very male-dominated field. So Chloé was already at a disadvantage in getting to the top by merely having ovaries instead of testicles, and she couldn't afford to not have every other advantage she could to get her that leg up over her future competition. She would have to take the disaster girl down fast and hard on this one, before she lost too much of her footing. 

It was for that reason that Chloé ignored her Adrichou going over and sidling up to her enemy, and his ardent desire for everyone to just get along, which usually kept her from speaking up in front of him. She ignored his fan club that flocked to the loser table after him, including the girl who had once been called her best friend before stabbing her in the back and taking half their friends with her as she tried to upstage Chloé. Today, Chloé had eyes for one target and one target only, and she needed an audience to get this message to fully sink in. There was some good things about having been stuck in the presence of the paint-spilling disaster girl for so many years now: she knew what buttons to press to bring the girl to her knees.

The cafeteria was at peak capacity when Chloé prowled in, making a bee line for her target. The table was busy making a fuss over Adrien's hand as he recounted again about his mishap last night in trying to make himself a midnight sandwich snack. This was exactly why things like cooking should be kept to the commoners, in Chloé's opinion, but she wasn't here for something like that. Currently, the baker girl was trying to garble out something intelligible at her Adrichou, who was too patient and understanding for his own good as he sat and waited attentively for something she said to make sense. Perfect, his fanbrats would already be anti-Dupain-Cheng as it is because of his favouritism, it won't be hard to turn the majority of the crowd to her side. 

Chloé slammed her hand down on the table open palmed so it made a loud bang and drew the attention of the surrounding tables as well. She then leaned far enough on that hand to cut off eye contact with Adrien so he'd have to openly challenge her to give the girl any support. She knew him well enough that he wouldn't be likely to do so without keeping things balanced and trying to placate her as well. He was too close to her and cared for her too deeply to not try to play at least mediator, and if the whole room turned on Marinette like Chloé intended to happen, he'd have no chance to single Chloé out and she'd be spared his ire. Oh, she'd have to endure a lecture later on the topic as he tried to impress upon her one of his naive beliefs about how the world worked, but it would be muted and distracted by everyone else taking parts of the blame. 

“I saw what you did, Dupain-Cheng! To think _you_ of all people would think you've got what it takes to be class rep is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Everyone knows everything you touch ends in a disaster, who in their right mind would ever hand the likes of you something so important as the welfare of the class?!”

This statement started up a flurry of whispers and murmurs from the other students of the school. Not just their own class, or even their own year, but everyone who knew of Marinette's reputation, asking questions of who would want the likes of her and why she thought she had what it took. The swirl of voices internalized to add to her own insecurities, twisting into even darker versions of what was being said. Added layers that a clear mind free of years of bullying wouldn't superimpose that told her every judging look and word of contempt was hiding a much more malicious thought.

And then, like the trumpet of a Valkyrie, one voice cut through it all. “That's not true! Marinette is really smart and creative! Not to mention she actually cares about other people, unlike you!” Alya bit back at Chloé from over the blunette's shoulder. Marinette turned and looked at her best friend with such thankful eyes at the knowledge that someone at least had her back.

Chloé only scoffed at this. “You've only been here a month now, Césaire, you're hardly someone that qualifies as a source for stating the status quo. She doesn't have what it takes and so should just quit while she's ahead before she can turn this into a disaster, too!”

“Chloé...” Adrien scolded, trying to defuse the situation before it could turn into a full on fight between the two girls and potentially hurt the feelings of the other friend they were fighting over.

“What does Dupain-Cheng know about organizing other people? About getting them to step up and do what they're told? About being a leader?” Chloé continued, either not hearing her friend or ignoring him.

“If that's the case, why are you acting so threatened?” a new voice suddenly spoke up. Chloé's eyes, cold as ice, slid over to the other blond girl, who was following the new trend to wear pigtails after Ladybug. Marinette similarly looked over, with mouth hanging a little agape at the fact that her bully, Aurore, had just spoken up in her defence. “If you _really_ felt she had no chance, why not just let Marinette stand up there and make a fool of herself? The very fact that you're making this power-play proves you recognize just how great Marinette is, and it scares you!”

“What are you--” Chloé cut herself off before she could finish. “Everything the disaster girl touches ends in disaster and everyone knows it,” she stated, forcing herself to regain her air of calm control. She hated Aurore, who had once been her dearest friend before turning into her greatest enemy. And now, for whatever weird reason, had seemed to form some sort of protection pact with the baker's daughter and would team up with each other against her every time she tried to open her mouth against either of them. However, Chloé was confident that Marinette's reputation and the gossip machine that was collège would still function in her benefit.

As she walked away, Adrien put a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder, rubbing little circles in her collarbone with his thumb. “I'm sorry about what Chloé said, please try not to let it get to you, she was out of line there. And Alya, Aurore, you two are such wonderful friends, standing up for her like that,” he complemented, smiling at each girl in turn.

Aurore preened under the incredulous looks of everyone who had mistakenly sided with the school's top bully. She had been right in her guess that the popular model was attracted to the designer's optimism and willingness to stand up for the downtrodden it seemed, and now he was seeing that same trait in her! With just a little more of this, he'd surely come to see her as someone special. “Of course, after all, Marinette stood by me after that whole Climatika thing, how could I not return the favour? Really, Marinette, if being class president is what you want, you should go for it with all your heart! I just _know_ you can do it, if you put your mind to it! Don't let anyone get in your way!”

Aurore's words of encouragement reminded Adrien of his thoughts from the weekend. Of Marinette gaining acceptance and inclusion and all the wonderful things the future could hold in store for the all of them, living those happy school lives. Of being the catalyst for her getting to experience all of that. A warm, fuzzy sort of giddiness bubbled up inside of his chest at the thoughts, and he smiled when he looked at Aurore with a thought of how it was moving towards that future. She smiled back, cheeks flushing a little pink for some reason. Maybe she was embarrassed for sticking up for her friend in such a bold and passionate way? Well, he'd be polite and not draw attention to her nervousness, and just give her a reassuring smile to let her know he approved and wouldn't judge her for it.

A few tables over, the gossip was continuing, however. Jérémy Ramage was sitting with his friends, Ivan and Juleka, as well as Ivan's girlfriend Mylène and Juleka's friend Rose. Because the Agreste boy was in the cafeteria today, their other friend Nino was over with him and his fan club, but the musically inclined were fine with sharing their remixer friend. As it was, though, Jérémy was echoing the sentiments of most the lunch room about the newest development. “What's so great about the disaster girl that it's got both Aurore Beauréal and Adrien Agreste singing her praises all of the sudden?”

“It's not really that sudden, for whatever reason, since he got here, Adrien has been strangely obsessive about getting close to Marinette. Most of the class thinks he has a crush on her or something,” Rose supplied, getting a nod of agreement from Juleka.

“She seems to like him, too...” mumbled the goth girl.

“Kim and Alix have a running pool on how long it will take for one of them to confess. Though I can't say I understand what he sees in her, or Aurore for that matter. She's the second most popular girl of our year, after all...” Rose mused as she arranged her cafeteria food into a little rabbit head before ruining it by scooping up one side of it's face to take a bite.

“I can see it,” Mylène quietly admitted. This gained the curious attentions of everyone but her boyfriend, who was instead nodding along with her. “I can see why he would like someone like Marinette...”

“She's sweet, and always trying to be helpful,” Ivan picked up when his shy girlfriend couldn't seem to say more. “Even though it's no secret that none of us liked her, back after that first time I became akumatized, she went out of her way to be there for me. When Chloé had put me down and called me a monster, when Kim had belittled me for my feelings towards Mylène, when I felt all alone and like no one understood... She was there. She came and found me, made sure I was alright, and gave me this pep talk about how I shouldn't give up and how great I was and how Mylène would accept my feelings. She even helped me brainstorm ways to confess and cheered me on.”

“She was the one that suggested Ivan write me that love song, the one that gave him the courage to follow his heart. If it wasn't for Marinette, we may never have gotten together. I owe this happiness to her, but she never tried to hold us to any sort of expectation. She hasn't even tried to worm her way in to being in our friend group or anything. She just comforted Ivan because she saw he was upset, helped us get together because she could, all because it was the nice thing to do,” Mylène responded.

The other three stared at the couple for a few seconds before Rose broke into a dreamy sigh, “That's-that's so romantic! That love song you have on your wall, that was really Marinette's idea?”

“It's still Ivan who actually wrote it...” Jérémy pointed out.

“But it was still her idea, and that is just so romantic!” Rose squealed.

“Rose is right, Marinette helped Ivan and we... all of us... we've been so cruel to her over the years. She doesn't actually deserve all the hate everyone sends her, she's not a bad person or anything and really does want to just be part of things and help out. I get that she's clumsy, but how many times has someone purposefully tripped her, or hit what she was carrying, or something like that to cause her to have more accidents than she really would have otherwise? And what did we all do? Instead of being nice and trying to help her, we laughed and thought ourselves bigger for it. While when Ivan was at that low, she showed compassion and understanding,” Mylène pointed out. “I understand why an isolated, home schooled boy like Adrien could find that appealing.”

This time when her friends looked at her, it wasn't with that passive curiosity or even Rose's fangirling. No, their expressions were filled with an inner shame as they thought back to everything they had seen Marinette endure as being the one socially acceptable to ostracize and bully. All the names, and shoves, and trips, and sneers. That time during école that Chloé had convinced the class for a week and a half to laugh at everything Marinette said, no matter the subject material, until the teacher finally got them to stop. How people who didn't openly bully her gave her the cold shoulder, or openly scrambled to put distance between themselves and her. How she had been isolated when not openly attacked, and that had been seen as simply normal and acceptable behaviour. How even when she was covered in icing and bits of cupcake, she had been forced to endure and sit through class that way rather than be allowed to go clean herself up because it was just “clumsy Marinette”. 

“That's not right...” Rose slowly said, head starting to shake in a slow back and forth as she was forced to take a closer look at her own actions and the darkness there in. She was supposed to be nice. She volunteered at the local animal shelter and gave a portion of her money to charities for little orphans in Africa. She had always seen herself as an ally of justice and protector of the weak and helpless, and yet she had turned a blind eye to the suffering happening right under her own nose. But not any more. She'd make this right, she'd make people see just how wrong they were! She'd do what was right and open their eyes and make sure no one around her was ever mistreated like this again!

She'd make it up to Marinette, and all the other victims of Chloé's bullying, and step number one was supporting the disast—the _baker_ girl in her campaign for class presidency!

~*~

Chloé sat on Sabrina's living room sofa, curling iron in one hand and make-up kit spread out to the side. Sabrina's father, Officer Roger Raincomprix, was out of the house on duty for the evening, leaving the two girls free to their own devices. The evening news played in the background as a precaution in case of any serious case or akuma attack they had to be worried about, but other than that their attention was otherwise occupied. Chloé had seen a new makeover tutorial on YouTube she had wanted to try last night and had notes on her phone that she kept thumbing back to. 

For some odd reason, Officer Raincomprix had it in his head that Sabrina shouldn't wear makeup until she was at least sixteen, though she did get away with tinted lip gloss that they told him was chap-stick. Chloé didn't get it, her papa had been perfectly happy to buy her her first makeup kit when she was seven and let her experiment as much as she wanted to find what actually looked pretty. And Adrien had been wearing makeup even longer than that for his modelling shoots, and he was a boy! But the officer was so unbelievably conservative and demanded adherence to the letter of the law so completely, everything was black and white to the man. He had nearly even tried to prevent Sabrina from wearing her skirt because it was “too short”, even though it came halfway down her thighs, but thankfully Chloé had managed to convince him she wasn't showing too much skin by pointing out she would be wearing tights under her skirt, which were basically just pants, and therefore the skirt was more decorative and wasn't actually required to cover anything.

Seriously, over-protective parents were such a pain! If it wasn't for Chloé, poor Sabrina would never get to do anything she wanted, never get to bend any rules or express herself. 

The television in the background finally finished reporting about the gala her father had postponed to this point as a publicity stunt. Of course, it took time to arrange something big and fancy like this, but if he hadn't been stalling then it would have been done a few weeks back and then faded from the public mind by the time people needed to head for the polls. As is, with everyone that is anyone showing up there, and with the heroes still new enough that popular opinion was to show support for them, that sent the strong subconscious message that it was also popular opinion to support her papa in his upcoming elections. Because no one would miss out on the chance to support Ladybug and Chat Noir, and no one present would be crude enough to openly disrespect the party's host, they also would all inadvertently be supporting the Mayor.

The next thing the news station went on about was the rumours of the smear campaign her father was running against his primary opposition. She had heard all about it when his father was on the phone during their bi-weekly father-daughter bonding-time dinner. Not that she cared that he was on the phone instead of paying attention to her one of the two nights they had set aside specifically for being together. At least he showed up, which was more than Gabriel to most of the meals he forced Adrien home for, and she did get a new wardrobe for pestering him while he was trying to work. So it was all good that he didn't really have the time for her, especially during an election. 

Not that she needed a new wardrobe, she had lots of clothes she still loved already, but maybe she'd bring Sabrina along with her on the shopping spree and sneak in a few more fun outfits for Sabrina to wear when she was over. She did really like that one string bikini she had gotten her for using in her private pool last summer. 

“ _...archaic way of thinking. What does that say about his view on equality of the sexes? Or the rights of people of colour? Or the LBG..._ ”

Chloé knew her papa was paying off the head of the news team to further his smear campaign. Subtle things like how M D'Argencourt was to never be mentioned in a positive light, even when bringing up good actions he'd taken, through to downright casting him in an unfavourable light like this current report was doing. Anyone at the station that wanted to keep their job had to follow through with the badmouthing, regardless of their own way of thinking. It did wonders to slowly and subconsciously turn everyone's opinion against the master fencer. It was a technique Chloé was well familiar with, having grown up watching her father work. 

However, those thoughts brought up another issue, that pulled the corners of Chloé's mouth into a contemplative pout. She hadn't managed to crush Dupain-Cheng as thoroughly as she would have liked by mere power of public opinion alone. She'd need some devastating bit of gossip to start a rumour on, something mortifying that would ruin her in the eyes of everyone—and if luck was on Chloé's side, turn Adrien away from her as well—but though they had been in and out of classes together since école, they didn't travel in the same circles. Bringing back up old gossip wouldn't have the same effect, but she didn't know enough about the other girl to figure out any new details. For the briefest of moments, Chloé thought of maybe seeing if Adrien knew anything, but she knew anything he would be willing to share around with other people wouldn't be the sort of reputation-ruining retribution Chloé needed.

No, if they had more time, she'd consider planting a mole among the disaster girl's friends to dig up some juicy dirt. So the only other option would be to conduct a search on her, like the police did for criminals, seeing if they could uncover any dark secrets. However, Chloé herself was too well known to her family, she'd never be let past the front counter, and she would need plausible deniability should Marinette decide to point fingers on where the source of the rumour was. And Marinette would need to be out of her room for a good deal of guaranteed time...

“I have a plan to crush that goody-two-shoes Dupain-Cheng once and for all, but I need your help,” Chloé admitted after a few minutes of serious thought. 

“But... I thought taking action against her would prove she's worthy to be seen as a threat?” Sabrina innocently said, echoing Aurore from earlier. 

Chloé seethed that her closest remaining friend would listen to that backstabbing brat like that, but struggled to force herself not to go off on the red haired girl for it. “I will not tolerate anyone thinking they can upstage me like that! I'll beat her down so badly she won't even think of lifting a finger against me for years!”

“Ooh, okay, Chloé!” Sabrina cheered, excited to be part of breaking rules and being included in with the popular girls, even if they were being mean while doing so. After all, without Chloé she was a boring, unfashionable, friendless nobody that never got to do anything and was always being forced to follow every rule to the letter, no matter how inane or nonsensical. 

“Right, so I'm going to call in a few of Papa's favours to throw a big publicity stunt, like a celebrity private signing or something and invite the whole class,” Chloé began.

“Oh, and then everyone will be bought off by the bribe and feel they owe you their vote because they love you for it!” Sabrina piped in, proud she caught on to her friend's clever plan.

“Well, that's part of it,” Chloé admitted. “But more importantly, Dupain-Cheng will be forced to come try and beg back people's votes pathetically. Meanwhile, you'll sneak into her room with an excuse of some sort and search around for something incriminating we can use against her to bury her!”

“Like Papa does when he has a warrant on someone!” Sabrina realized, nodding eagerly.

“Right, you think you can do that for me?” Chloé asked.

“Of course!” was Sabrina's happy reply.

~*~

Mlle Bustier's class entered the art room for their weekly session. Art was always one of Marinette's favourite classes, and she felt safe in M Artus's classroom, having spent many a lunch hour hiding here since she learned the doors were always open in her second year of collège. Having dealt with them in his own childhood, M Artus did not tolerate bullying within his sanctuary and strictly enforced the 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' rule. It ensured Marinette would be left alone in her little corner, at least, everyone else's art projects moved far away from her and paints carefully kept on shelves across the room.

She liked M Artus, he appreciated her talent and did his best to preemptively circumvent as many issues with her clumsiness as possible, be it merely ensuring someone else stepped forward and helped her carry things when her arms were full, or reorganizing the work space to minimize her contact to liquids or plaster. When the school curriculum had insisted on her painting, he had arranged for her to come in after school when everyone else was gone and had laid a large tarp in the middle of the courtyard to set the easel on and had even loaned her one of his water-proof painting smocks to make sure she was well covered in case of accidental spills. He had even gone so far as to have the carpentry club design her a specialized table to act as her painting pallet, with sturdy legs and a hole cut out of it to hold the cup of water so she wouldn't tip it over.

He had said that beautiful art shouldn't be restricted by the artist's condition. While it hurt that he talked about her clumsiness like some sort of disability, it had been so long since an adult really tried to reach out a hand to her that she had just latched onto his kindness gratefully without a moment's hesitation. 

So that was why she moved with a slight bounce in her step as she came to sit down at her usual spot, Alya sliding into the seat next to her and Nathaniel into the last seat at their table. The desks here sat three to a bench, and Adrien was with Chloé and Sabrina in this room, Nino sitting with Ivan and Juleka. Nathaniel chose to sit here at this desk with her back when collège had first begun, when they were still friends, because this was the closest bench to all the drawing supplies. Marinette sometimes missed the hours they had once spent, laughing and joking together as they compared and critiqued their respective works, before Nathaniel had suddenly no longer been willing to meet her eyes or speak to her. Yet he had never left the far end of that table, where years later Alya had come to join them.

It was in this place that Marinette was surprised to suddenly be ambushed by Rose and Mylène of all people, with Ivan and Nino and Juleka hanging back behind them. “You were late this morning so I couldn't ask!” Rose announced, eyes bright with some foreign sparkle in them. “What is your campaign on?”

Marinette blinked, looking around the people who were all watching her supportively, awaiting her answer. Even Nathaniel was looking up at her curiously. “Um... campaign?” she squeaked.

“You know, against Chloé!” Rose pressed, an almost manic grin on her face.

“Oh, um, I... I hadn't really... thought of one yet. Putting my name down was more of a split-second decision...” Marinette admitted.

Rose's eyes lit up at that. “New seats! Those old benches are _so_ uncomfortable, I swear I got a splinter from them once! Some nice new seats with some plush, comfy cushions would be so wonderful!”

“Oh, and maybe a class charity event? Like, we could earn money with a bottle drive and stuff and use our proceeds to sponsor a Family Wish List for Christmas...” Mylène supplied.

“Family Wish List?” Juleka mumbled out.

“It's where low-income families living in poverty with children get sponsored by a rich family, or by a group like a school class, to buy food and toys and stuff for Christmas,” Mylène explained.

“You know what would be really awesome? Being able to listen to music during study blocks,” Nino was saying.

“Some more of those akuma prevention lessons,” Ivan added.

“Um, a -mumble mumble- that -mumble mumble mumble-...” Juleka added, though Marinette couldn't quite make out what it was the girl was asking for.

The blunette looked around at all their expectant faces before trying, “Yes...?” That seemed to be the appropriate response because everyone broke out into happy smiles at that. 

Suddenly Alya called out, “Hey, Sunshine, Marinette can count on your vote too, right?”

Adrien, who had been held up between classes with a phone call from his father's assistant about his photo shoot after school, paused on his way over to his seat with Chloé and Sabrina. “Uh, sure, if she has a better campaign speech...” he admitted, not willing to throw his lot in with either girl prematurely as both were his friends.

When the model walked away, Marinette wilted onto Alya. “I guess I better get to writing that speech, huh?” she sighed dreamily.

It was then M Artus called the class to order. “Anyone not here yet?” he asked of the students, scanning his eyes around the room as he looked for any empty seats. Seeing none, he continued on with his instructions for today. “Today we're doing life drawing. Everyone bring your stools around. I tried getting a model in, but they couldn't make it, so instead I'll be arranging these drapes and--”

“Monsieur? If you need a model, I could help?” Adrien offered, lifting his injured hand as he spoke. “I can't really hold a sketch pad with my hand like this, anyway...”

“Oh, well, I wouldn't want to impose... You would basically have to sit in one position for most of the class,” M Artus admitted.

“That's fine, I'm used to things like that. Professional model and all that. Besides, I already know I can't draw, I can hardly even do stick people, so if I can get credit like this instead...” the blond boy replied with a casual shrug.

“Well, alright. If you could just sit up here and make yourself comfortable... Remember, if it gets too much for you to hold your pose any longer, just tell me, alright? The last thing I want is you straining yourself,” the teacher insisted.

Adrien took up one of his well-practiced poses, one of the more casual and relaxed ones that wouldn't tire him out too much to hold while his classmates gathered around with their drawing equipment. Marinette and Nathaniel automatically went to sit in the place that gave them the best angle and lighting, acting with artist eyes. To the blunette, this was probably the best class ever, the perfect excuse to spend the whole hour staring at her crush without having to worry about being weird or anyone teasing her for it. 

Nathaniel, used to drawing the human figure, had the basic outline of Adrien done in the first ten minutes. Now he was going back and drawing in the details in more solid lines to add shading in last. But he could tell the blunette beside him had hardly drawn anything, which was odd as she ought to have at least finished a basic outline for proportions by this point. He had assumed she'd of started with his clothes first as that's what she was always drawing, but instead she had drawn what appeared to be the start of an eye and just sort of... stopped. 

He knew she could sometimes run herself into spirals of negativity, and wondered if she was doing it again, thinking about this campaign she was trying to build. Of course, he had notice her efforts to change herself since the start of the year, when Alya had joined the class and became her friend. She was pushing herself to try new things and crawl out of her shell, she was even making a stand against Chloé of all people. He was proud of her, of course, but he also was feeling suddenly somehow inadequate, like his fellow quiet artist was leaving him behind. 

He had noticed when they were still eleven how pretty she was when she smiled. For about two months he had blissfully enjoyed their time together in the art room, being the one that made her smile and laugh, until that unfortunate moment when he realized that the reason his heart beat faster at the sight of her was because he was crushing on her. After that, he had been so nervous and embarrassed that he had clammed up around her. And now, almost two years later, it had been going on so long that it was almost more scary now trying to open his mouth around her again. 

Would she be able to forgive him for being a shy, idiotic preteen too smitten over the pretty girl in front of him to be able to put two words together? Would she laugh at him for his feelings towards her, or tell him he was too late and his earlier actions had turned her against him? Would he even be able to get out a confession to her without getting so tongue tied it wasn't even funny?

But if she could struggle to improve herself, step out of her shell and put herself out there like this, then surely so could he. He would prove he was just as willing to grow as she was, push himself that one step further, and then, when he told her how he felt, they could grow together into something stronger and united. They could become their best selves together, helping each other past life's hurdles and build something truly wonderful and meant to last. But the first step to that better and brighter future was opening the lanes of communication.

“U-um... Ma-Marinette...?” Nathaniel forced himself to being, knowing his face was surely as red as his hair. “A-about you running for-for class rep...”

“Mmhmm...” she responded distractedly, as though stuck in her own mind, but not in the way he had assumed she would be.

“I was thinking--” he paused as he registered her tone and took a closer look at her expression. “Er, Marinette? You're not drawing...”

“Yeah...” she said again in that same dreamy tone. Her eyes were focused solely on the model, clearly taking everything about him in, but her pencil had hardly moved all class. Her eyes were slightly glossy, and her cheeks a little more pink than normal, and she had a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

Nathaniel looked between the besotted girl and the gorgeous boy she was staring at so intently, taking in his perfect features and flawless complexion. His striking green eyes, perfectly styled hair, high-end specially tailored clothes that fit his toned physique. And Nathaniel sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat, his eyes cast downward. He was too late, he had taken too long to build up the courage to approach the girl he had been crushing on these last two years, and now she had gone and fallen for someone else. The boy that had all the confidence in the world and spoke to her freely every day with a smile. The boy so perfect he had his face plastered from one side of Paris to the other as the city's sweetheart. A boy that someone would have to be truly exceptional to compete with, with his gentlemanly demeanour and friendly disposition. There wasn't even a hope of a whole 'beauty only skin deep' in this case like there was for all the girls trying to drag their crush's eyes away from Chloé.

Nathaniel sunk back into his chair, turning back to his artwork with a bitter twinge to his chest as he looked at the boy he was being made to draw. He suddenly wasn't so happy to do this anymore.

~*~

M D'Argencourt walked among the students correcting stances as his last gym class of the day stood in rows and practised footwork. He wasn't foolish enough to hand real foils to a room full of rowdy, untrained thirteen-year-olds when there was only himself to keep an eye on everyone. That would be just a disaster waiting to happen. No, if any of them had any actual desire to learn, they would join the fencing club, or actually pay for the lessons. 

But no, handing real swords to a room full of children with no formal training and no respect for the art would just lead to injury. Far too many foolish people believed that just because the foil had a cap at the end it was therefore safe and thus safety precautions could be ignored. They failed to question why the fencers always wore head-to-toe body armour, including a mask, if the foils were as harmless as everyone seemed to think. 

But there was one stance in the room that was flawless every time. M D'Argencourt was proud to announce that Adrien Agreste was not only a student in this class, but his prize pupil among his paying students as well. Though he had often gone to M Agreste and pointed out to the man how having his prodigy son in the public classes would only benefit the boy by exposing him to more strategies and techniques, sadly so far the child was restricted to only private lessons. But being finally allowed to attend public schooling, M D'Argencourt could only hope that the rest of his isolated learning policies would soon follow suit. 

Because prodigy was really the only way one could describe Adrien's talent for fencing. The boy had been bringing home golds since his first tournament and required adults a good ten years more experienced than himself to fight against in order to even begin feeling challenged. M D'Argencourt couldn't be more proud of him if he were his own child, and now here he was in a school class practising lunges and other footwork drills as fast and fleet of foot as a stag prancing through the woods. Truly, the boy looked like nobility with his grace next to his uncoordinated classmates. 

“Ugh, this is _so boring_...” he heard Mlle Kubdel groan to her neighbour, Kim, when she thought he couldn't hear her. 

“Why do we have to do this, anyway? Isn't these next two weeks supposed to be fencing lessons? Where are the swords?” the boy in red complained back, his voice raised in pitch enough that it didn't qualify as a whisper any longer. 

M D'Argencourt whirled on him immediately. “Knave! Dost thou think they have the skills of a true master without putting forth a single day's worth of practice? Thine understanding of the great and noble art of fencing is deplorable! Adrien, I shall have a tilt with thee to show this sciolist what true mastery looks like!”

Adrien beamed, and with only an obedient “Yes, sir!” scampered off to go and suit up for their match. He came out not five minutes later, in full uniform and brandishing his personal foil. The class had gathered around, an area cleared for the pair to face off within as the two experienced fencers mentally created their strip and saluted each other with their blades.

“Now, eyes on the footwork!” M D'Argencourt instructed the class before calling out to the blond boy, “En garde!” And then they began, a flurry of motions, Adrien light on the balls of his feet, stance long and low with every lunge, steps short and quick when he pulled back. Though this was only a small demonstration, the level of mastery was obvious. Every motion was perfect, the speed and precision that Adrien exemplified with his every action was what gave him his reputation of being the best of his generation. France would be worse for it if the Agreste boy never went for the Olympics. 

The bell rang, calling the match to a close with no clear victor. While most the students happily headed off to go clean up before heading home, the instructor pulled his star pupil aside. “Thine skill increases by leaps and bounds, a true image of mastery, young Adrien. I feel you are truly ready at last, this next private lesson I shall grant you the wisdom of kings and knights, the secret technique handed down within the school, passed to me by my sire and his sire before him. You have earned it, young squire.”

“Really?” Adrien asked, face breaking into a grin at his instructor's praise. It had been something he had first told Adrien about back when the boy was only eight, the special finisher move that he refused to even show him, let alone teach him. For the last five years the boy had diligently trained week after week, begging from time to time to learn the move but never mature enough to be trusted with the secret. But it had reached the point that there was truly nothing else left that M D'Argencourt could teach him and so it was finally time for that last, final step.

With a solemn nod, he sent the young teen excitedly scampering on his way.

~*~

“ _M Bourgeois ran a successful rally last night, seemingly guaranteeing his fourth consecutive win of the Mayoral elections. He beat out the one running against him, Armand D'Argencourt, the physical education professor at the prestigious Collège Françoise Dupont and fencing instructor, by a landslide. The polls show M D'Argencourt has received the lowest percentage of votes in the history of Paris at a mere 3%! So low that if we take a look at how his campaigns have been since 1977, no competitor has ever..._ ”

~*~

Alya had arrived at school early that morning, a girl on a mission. She was determined to not let a stuck-up self-centred bully like Chloé get the kind of authority over her fellow classmates. Of course, her primary responsibility was researching details involving the Miraculous and Le Papillon's identity in order to assist the Parisian heroes, and to get information out to the people, because that was important for bringing down a terrorist. But she was so proud of her friend for stepping up and going against Chloé, she'd do everything she could to ensure Marinette's victory in this class election.

That was why she was here, she'd get people to promise they'd vote for Marinette, and then they would feel obliged to follow through with that promise when the time came. She knew for sure her vote was for Marinette. Likewise, Rose was enthusiastic about Marinette's victory. “Oh, of course she has my vote! Speaking up from the heart like that, doing her best despite her circumstances, it just tugs at the heartstrings, doesn't it?”

Juleka was a little less excited on the subject, and half-watched Rose as she answered in her usual mumble, “Oh, well, you know... I suppose, if she's good... Maybe...”

Nathaniel was quiet and rather bashful about voicing his affirmation. “I-if-if it's what will make her ha-happy... I-I want to support her.”

Ivan was stoic when he stated, “She had my back, I'll have hers.”

Kim, however, was firmly in Chloé's corner. “She's my friend, has been for years, and she's never failed the job before now, so why should I go jumping ship for the likes of the disaster girl who's known to screw up everything she touches? You haven't been here long enough to know these things.”

Max had seemed more open to Alya's insistence, “It might be interesting to see what someone as creative and resourceful as Marinette can manage to achieve...”

Until Kim had something to say on the matter. “Wouldn't it be better to trust someone tried and proven with our futures rather than some unknown element?” he loomed, taking a moment to cast threatening looks around the room, causing many of the bullied students to shrink in on themselves and avert their gazes.

Max sank under the threatening mass of the Vietnamese athlete who was nearly twice his size. “Oh, uh, y-yes, you-you make a very good point, Kim.”

So Max was a lost cause. Alix was downright nonpartisan. “Don't care. One way or the other, doesn't matter to me. Doesn't affect me. If you keep badgering me, Césaire, I will vote for Chloé simply to spite you.”

~*~

Marinette was having a weird morning. She had been excited when she happened to arrive at the same time that Adrien was dropped off at the front steps, and had got to be the first one he greeted. She even managed to get out something that resembled a greeting to him in return, though it had taken a few tries to formulate something recognizable as a morning greeting. She had then followed quietly as Adrien went and met Nino on the stairs. Apparently, it had been long enough now that Adrien's father would have forgotten Nino existed, so long as he didn't refer to Nino by name ever and the boy stayed away from Adrien's house.

His bodyguard, who apparently went by le Gorille rather than an actual proper name, seemingly wouldn't rat Adrien out because he understood Adrien wasn't in any danger being around his friend. So as long as Nathalie didn't spot them hanging out anywhere, they were good now to return to being friends publicly once more.

The three of them then walked into school, Marinette quietly hanging on the fringe of the two boy's conversation, not participating but not being chased off for daring to be present. And that's when things started getting weird. Well, if she thought about it, the weird started when she signed up to take on Chloé in the class elections and Aurore of all people stepped up to defend her. The following day a few other people from Adrien's fan club and Aurore again had all come up to her randomly at different times between classes to say something nice to or about her out of the blue. 

She had been flattered and a bit flabbergasted at the sudden shift in behaviour, added to the fact that people in her class were purposefully approaching her and actually talking to her about her campaign and such. Were so many people really that eager to see someone take Chloé down a peg? _I mean, well, she is a bully..._ But today... it seemed nearly every person they passed was stopping the three of them along their walk to say something supportive about Marinette. She would almost think someone like Chloé was putting everyone up to this as some sort of veiled insult or prank, but it didn't make any sense for her to do something like that. Maybe Aurore was behind this?

She watched the latest person to approach them, a girl from Aurore's class who fancied Adrien, Dominique Vallet, walk away when she became distracted from her musings by locking eyes with a positively beaming Adrien. “Everyone in school is so nice,” he said.

He could have announced that dog poop tasted like strawberries with that look on his face and she would have agreed with him. He looked so happy her knees went weak and higher brain function cut out. His eyes got that sparkle to them as they filled with such warmth he put his nickname of Sunshine Child to shame. The sun was not that radiant or warm, let alone a beam of light it let off for these lowly humans. She was not worthy to be in the presence of such divine perfection.

But the moment passed with the boys innocently continuing their trek to class and Marinette could barely get her legs to function enough for her to take the next few steps without giving out in a boneless jelly mass. Then someone else approached her to talk about how great she was and the weirdness of the day continued.

~*~

Marinette sat in her room after school that day with a notebook in front of her, working on her campaign speech. Tomorrow her and Chloé would each go up in front of the class and speak about what they intended to bring to everyone, so she was trying to figure out how to fit in as many of the talking points that the class had brought up as possible.

“...more comfortable chairs, the right to listen to music while studying, proactive fundraisers for good causes, the thing Juleka tried to tell me...” Marinette muttered to herself as she listed as many of the requests as she could remember.

“What are you doing?” Tikki asked, coming up from where ze had been watching a YouTube playlist of old episodes of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. 

“I'm writing down what all the students want so I can include them as talking points when I present my platform tomorrow,” Marinette explained, not bothering to look away from the list she was working on. “Some will be easier than others, and some will likely have to be tweaked to make them work, like Nino wanting music during study blocks, or Rose wanting new chairs. Having headphones or getting cushions would probably be a more practical solution, but I could probably work something like that out with Mlle Bustier to make things better for the class.”

“I’m super proud of you. I’m sure you’ll win, you’re going to be an excellent representative,” Tikki chirped. “But you know, you should also spend some time as Ladybug.”

“Why would I do that? Is there an akuma about?” Marinette asked.

“Well, no, but think about how when you had some down-time in the suit, you managed to discover the phone features on your yo-yo,” ze pointed out. “Who knows what else you would be able to discover if you took the time to look?”

“Or, you could just tell me all the features of my yo-yo,” the girl reasoned, still trying to focus on her list and draw connections for her speech. “Kim and Alix never said what they wanted from the class president. What do you think would make them happy?”

“What about learning to use your yo-yo in the more practical sense? Being able to handle it better would surely help you when the next akuma does show up,” the crimson kwami pressed.

“But you said the yo-yo is magic and responds to my subconscious to tell it how to move, not physics. That was why that whole thing where it tangled that Alimenter akuma when I wasn't even holding on to the yo-yo,” the blunette countered.

“Er, well, yes, but, didn't you promise your Maman that you would get out more and exercise? Running across the rooftops of Paris would be good for you, and think of all the unique inspiration you could gain from seeing the City of Lights from angles no one else in the world has access to?” ze tried for the final time.

“But Tikki, I have obligations that I have to take care of. I don't have time to go for some joy run.” Their conversation about her alter ego was cut short by her phone buzzing at her from the table. She picked it up to see that Alya was trying to invite her for a video chat. “See, Tikki? If I were transformed right now, I'd be missing this call!”

She answered it to a very serious faced Alya. “ _Marinette, battle's on! It’s a disaster!_ ” Alya told her.

“Why, what’s going on?” Marinette asked in confusion. 

“ _Chloé has invited all the class for her campaign’s launch and she has even somehow got XY to come!_ ” Alya explained, panning her phone to show the row of students behind her.

“No! Are you serious? XY? But he’s a super famous up-and-coming singer! He's all the rage with young girls and pop music!” Marinette panicked. 

“ _Exactly, she plans to buy the students with autographs,_ ” Alya pointed out.

“Argh! That’s not playing fair!” Marinette whined. She had to do something to counteract this play by Chloé before everything was too late and Chloé cheated her way into winning again for another year. “I’m gonna give her a talking to. I’ll be there soon!” Marinette declared, grabbing her purse and hurrying from her room as she hung up.

~*~

Adrien was excited, this was the day that M D'Argencourt had promised he would teach him the special move. They were going through their usual drills and practice, working up a soft sheen of sweat in that way that felt so rewarding with a whole-body workout. Adrien was even panting slightly from the exertion, when M D'Argencourt did something completely unexpected. He stopped, arms spread out in an obvious 'come at me' pose and waited.

Adrien blinked at this odd behaviour, part of him sensing this was a trap and not wanting to walk into it, but at the same time he was curious about what his instructor was doing. He signalled politely that he was going to begin now before charging the master with a courageous battle cry. M D'Argencourt stepped sideways, his foil on the side furthest from Adrien's charge, before bringing the blade up behind his back. Due to the flexible nature of the foil, M D'Argencourt's point slipped into the gap between Adrien's hand and the martingale of his grip. With the force of Adrien's lunge, he could not stop himself in time, and his foil quickly became entangled with M D'Argencourt's while the instructor spun around, keeping his foil where it was but moving his body to avoid the incoming attack. 

Then, using the momentum of his spin, he shoulder checked Adrien as he threw the boy's blade from his hands and across the courtyard. Adrien hit the ground with a grunt, all the air forcefully escaping his lungs. By the time he regained his bearings, he was laying flat on his back with his instructor's foil pointed right at his heart. “Wow, you’re in top form today M D'Argencourt. That move was so cool.”

“Yes, though obviously not for tournaments. This manoeuvre was a secret move developed by one of my ancestors, the Black Knight,” M D'Argencourt explained.

“The Black Knight?” Adrien questioned in wonder.

“Yes, back during the end of the Hundred Year War, the Black Knight was a nobleman who rode with Jeanne D'Arc and liberated Paris from the English. It became his stronghold in the attempts to rescue Jeanne D'Arc after her capture...” he began proudly. “...until the sad day he was overthrown by a commoner who used his gold to buy the loyalty of the people in Paris. Argh… when I think that my family’s banner used to hang above this city.”

“Was that the reason you ran, M D’Argencourt, to avenge your ancestor?” a sudden female voice cut into their conversation.

The fencing master turned in bafflement initially at the sound of the strange woman's voice, but quickly it turned to rage at the sight of the camera pointing at him and his young charge during what was supposed to be a private lesson to a celebrity child to show off a school's secret technique. Adrien slipped behind his mentor, hiding in the other man's shadow to avoid the camcorder. “Par le fer! Who dost we have hither? This is a private lesson!”

“What are your comments, quote, 'on how you were foiled,' and your crushing defeat?” the tabloid journalist pressed as the camera panned in closer to his affronted expression.

“Hey, you! You don’t have permission to enter school grounds!” the drama teacher, M Fred Haprèle, called as he came running over from the stairwell to help throw the reporters out. “The school board will be pressing charges for this!”

“I think I… tune in next broadcast!” the paparazzi woman got out before turning with her cameraman and running for the exit, M Haprèle on their heels while M D'Argencourt stood guard over the young celebrity.

“Get back here!” he called, “You can't get away with filming on school property without permission! The students have rights!”

The commotion had caught the attention of le Gorille who stepped up in the way of the door as a towering sentinel. The reporter and cameraman ran into him head-on but toppled to the ground while he didn't budge or even flinch at the impact. The woman opened her mouth, intent on spewing out something about violence against the press, but seemed to think better of it when she saw the size of the man glaring down at her. 

M Haprèle caught up to them and demanded to know their names and what station they worked for, taking all their information down before assuring Georges both verbally and with sign language that he didn't think his 'son' had been hurt by their intrusion and did he want a copy of the personal information sent to him for legal purposes. The giant man nodded, reaching out and lifting both the reporter and her cameraman off the ground by the scruffs of their necks before marching them both down the stairs and depositing them on the sidewalk below. He then proceeded to stand guard on the steps before the closed school doors, glaring at the pair that took refuge behind the advertisement column on the corner of the block until the class was over.

~*~

Sabrina watched from the Place des Vosges as Marinette ran from the bakery and towards City Hall where Chloé was throwing her event. As Marinette left her line of sight, the redhead dialed her friend with a single message: “I'm going in.”

They had timed all of this to coincide with the afternoon rush so it was no surprise that Sabrina entered into the bakery with several loitering customers and a lineup at the front till. Sabrina stepped up to the side of the line and looked at the small Chinese woman with that well-practised look of patient insistence that all children get when waiting their turn from the adults in their life.

“Hello,” Sabine greeted, politely customer service while still somewhere between ready to tell her to get in line and curious why she was looking at her like that.

“Hello Madam, Marinette forgot to give me back my Geometry book and I really need it,” Sabrina spoke quickly, feigning urgency.

“Marinette just left,” she informed as the current customer in line began looking impatient. Sabine quickly got back to wrapping the bread stick before handing it over while Sabrina put on a face of panicked desperation. “I have customers to tend to so I have to stay here and see to the shop. Why don't you go on up and look for it, Marinette would have left it in her bedroom, that's at the very top of the stairs.”

“No problem! Thank you, Madam, you really saved me on this one!” Sabrina insisted, waving to Mme Cheng as she headed through the staff door and up to the apartment proper. She glanced around but figured anything incriminating and embarrassing would be hidden somewhere in Marinette's room. She quickly found the steps leading up and climbed into the garishly pink room. She blinked as she looked around at the barely organized chaos that was her room. It took her a moment to realize the bed was up higher on a loft. For someone so accident prone, she sure had been put to sleep in the place with the absolutely most number of stairs to reach her bed imaginable. 

She decided to start her search from there and work her way down, knowing many people tended to hide their most embarrassing secrets close to where they slept. Something about being the most intimate and private space making people believe the area wouldn't be violated. On the corkboard beside her bed was a few pictures of Adrien Agreste, proving her to be a fan, but that was hardly noteworthy for a young teen girl in Paris. There was a load of stuffed animals, a pair of Chat Noir and Ladybug plushies that appeared to be hand-made... Sabrina began methodically strip-searching the bed, pulling away pillows and blankets. 

Bingo! Her first piece of evidence: a fashion magazine hidden under a pillow with a page bookmarked in it. She flipped it open on the ugly cat-shaped pillow to see a jewellery ad in which Adrien was giving the camera smouldering bedroom eyes. Or at least the best approximation a twelve-year-old was capable of. Still, she snapped a photo of it, proof Marinette had impure thoughts towards the model boy that was so drawn to her.

But she didn't stop there. Secrets could be hidden under bed sheets, under the matres, under the bed frame. But there was nothing else incriminating, only some shoe boxes of fashion magazine cutouts, most of which of various women in Gabriel dresses. Nothing that would be incriminating to an aspiring designer. She then took a quick look around the balcony through the skylight, but other than a flower garden there seemed to be nothing of note.

She headed back down to the main room proper and began nosing around Marinette's workspace. The first thing she noticed was the collaged mural of Adrien photos clipped from magazines and arranged by lighting. She snapped a picture of it, but that wasn't much more damning than the photo she had bookmarked under her pillow. Another board covered with sticky notes of various colours, some with reminders of homework, others random quotes, a number of them had dates and store names scribbled on them, and others just had series of numbers. None of it made sense without context, so Sabrina moved on. 

A basket full of yarn, including the left-overs of a very pretty pale blue that strongly reminded Sabrina of that scarf Adrien had gotten from his father for his birthday. She wondered if Marinette was trying to make a matching set or if she intended to make him something like mittens with the stuff to give him at Christmas. There was a bunch of tools like screwdrivers and such out on her table, and Sabrina wondered what a fashion designer could want with such things. Maybe she had to do maintenance on her sewing machine? Sabrina had to admit she wasn't really very familiar with them to know what it required to use one. She was going to keep scanning when she saw shoved back under the computer monitor a small semi-circle pink book in a matching ornamental box that so screamed 'diary' that it just made Sabrina smirk. 

If anything in this room would have evidence that could bury Marinette's reputation it would be that book. Even if nothing new was written, the idea of having her personal thoughts on various events read aloud for everyone to hear would be positively mortifying to the blunette. Sabrina went to pick the book up when suddenly the box slammed shut over her hand. 

Sabrina shrieked in surprise, trying to pull her hand free to no avail. This was not part of the plan! Chloé had said she was to look for something incriminating, not get her hand caught in some weird sort of bear-trap-like-thing! Panicking, Sabrina scampered from the room and guiltily out the back entrance to the shop before scurrying away back to Chloé so she could be told how to fix this.

~*~

“Remember, if you vote for me, I promise you tickets to XY's next concert!” Chloé was saying as Rose got her free copy of the latest album signed by the pop star and posed for a picture with him. The little pink pixy girl was practically buzzing with excitement as Chloé exchanged a casual high-five with the idol between signings. 

Alya was stepping up for her turn to meet the idol as Marinette finally reached City Hall. Chloé caught her eye and smirked triumphantly at the fact even Marinette's so-called best friend had been roped in to turning against her. Step one: divide her support group seemed to be a success. 

Alya stepped away from XY, her grin falling instantly as she met Marinette's accusing glare. “You got an autograph?”

Alya shushed her and pushed Marinette out of the line of sight. “Yeah, I got you one, too.”

“I don't like XY,” Marinette stated, crossing her arms and turning her nose up stubbornly. 

“Really? But he's hot!” Alya countered. “Sorry, I'm a big fan and I just couldn't help myself. But this doesn't mean I'm voting for Chloé.”

“Well... alright, I suppose I can forgive you if you vote for me,” Marinette relented. “I get that he's popular and all, even if he's got nothing on Jagged Stone. Now just saving everyone else from Chloé's trap...” she muttered, turning and looking at the rest of their class.

~*~

Adrien was walking through the movements of the secret disarming technique once again in slow motion, working out the angle he had to hold his foil at so it would enter the gap in his instructor's grip. They had broken it down in parts, letting him get a handle on consistently managing to get his point in the proper location for M D'Argencourt's slow lunges before worrying about any sort of speed, let alone doing the manoeuvre behind his back. It had been a few years now since he had last tried something new in the sport that was this complicated. 

Usually by this point, while it would take longer to perfect a technique, he could at least do it passably after ten minutes, but this they had been working on for a good half-hour and he was still in the initial learning phase. This really was a technique on the master level, and it was slightly thrilling to know he wasn't being taught tournament moves, but a real combat style. His mind was already imagining how he could use such a move as Chat Noir when fighting akuma.

“Armand, it's five o'clock!” M Haprèle called to the pair in reminder as he came from his office, tucking the last of his paperwork away in his bag as he did.

“I see, well then, this lesson hath ended. As ever, thine skills fill me with pride, young protege,” M D'Argencourt stated, before sending Adrien off to get changed. 

However, when he came back out, both teachers were standing by the still closed doors, discussing something. “The paparazzi is still out there, and we don't want them hassling you. We feel it's best if you leave from the Eastern side door instead,” M Haprèle explained, comforting hand on Adrien's shoulder. 

“But... they already saw me?” Adrien commented. “They're here to get a story on M D'Argencourt, so wouldn't it be better if he sneaked out instead?”

“You adorned thine mask, young squire, and a true act of dishonour it would be for me to cower and sneak about like a lowly thief in the night whilst a child bears face to the vultures in my stead,” the fencing master announced.

Somewhat reluctantly, Adrien sent off a text to le Gorille, informing him of where to bring the car around to. He then watched through the glass as his bodyguard moved away from the steps and M D'Argencourt exited the school and began his decent to the sidewalk below. The reporter and her cameraman wasted no time jumping at the chance to go after the candidate once the large mountain of the man no longer held them at bay. 

“M D'Argencourt, some have said that you’re, quote, 'a fossil, stuck in the middle ages and your tactics are completely dated,' unquote. What do you have to say to that?” the paparazzi demanded of him as soon as they could get the camera and mic back into his face.

“Sacrebleu, you're back again with your insulting questions. Please stop bothering me on the spot!” he snapped in response, attempting to sidestep the harassment and make his way home in peace.

“And what of your stance on women? Is it true that your archaic viewpoints will regress their rights by decades if not centuries?” she continued to press.

“Vile, poisonous wrench! Begone with you and the preposterous lies you spew! A man of chivalry would--” M D'Argencourt's words were cut off as he had been speaking over his shoulder as he walked and failed to notice he was walking face-first into the advertisement pillar outside of the school. Infuriated, insulted, and now embarrassed, he let out a groan and looked up to the face of André Bourgeois, who's poster had been plastered over top the add.

He was done. He could take no more of this absurd situation, and brandished his foil from his fencing equipment before slashing his frustrations out at the grinning mug of his opposition. As he watched the paper drift to the ground, M D'Argencourt breathed heavily from his impassioned exertion, knowing he had lost his temper and that the act would be used against him in his failed mayoral campaign. It would haunt him for years, surely, he just hoped it didn't loose him his job as well. He was so busy focusing on that, and how the man he had just turned the picture of into confetti had systematically ruined his life with his smear campaign, that he didn't even notice the little black butterfly that drifted down into his foil.

“ _Chevalier Noir, I’ll offer you powers, in exchange you’ll give me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir,_ ” the voice that filled his mind said.

“When the banner and ferocious emblem of mine ancestors presides atop the Town Hall, I shall honour my debt to thee,” he swore in a trance. 

Mouth hanging open, the reporter and cameraman watched as the oily black covered the man and gave way to reveal a figure in full black body armour with red highlights. “Um… mmm… any comments on your sudden transformation?” the reporter tried.

“I am the Chevalier Noir, Lord of Paris...!” the akuma introduced itself. He zapped a red light at each of them, hitting them in the forehead, and at once they fell to their knees in a bow. With the tip of his sword, he knighted each of them, transforming them into identical green-highlighted soldiers bearing halberds. “Soon mine army shall be immense and unstoppable! We shalt take City Hall and reclaim the throne from Bourgeois the Usurper!”

From within the school where they watched, M Haprèle gripped at Adrien's shoulders. “Run, hide! I'll stay here to make sure you can get away safely!”

Adrien wanted to argue, but he knew the best course of action was to get away and transform into Chat Noir who could focus on restraining the akuma until his Lady showed up and they could purify it. With that knowledge, Adrien turned on his heel and sprinted for the empty classrooms that lined the ground floor. Ducking in side and making sure there was no teacher present, Adrien pulled his kwami from his front pocket.

“Ivan, Nino, Aurore, Alya, Alix last weekend, and now one of the teachers even? Out of seven akuma, only one so far didn't have connections to Collège Françoise Dupont! There has to be something up with that!” Adrien pointed out.

“Perhaps. Do you think continuing to attend here is too dangerous? Want to go back to staying at home and relaxing all day?” Plagg questioned hopefully.

Adrien sent hir a scowl. “No, Plagg. In fact, me staying here would be for the best! I can have a viable reason to investigate, and be able to immediately respond when akuma show up this way!”

“You are unnaturally fascinated with attending school, you know?” ze countered.

“Plagg, transform moi,” was all Adrien had to say in response.

~*~

“Do you realize you're being bribed? Concert tickets are awesome, but they won't solve any of our actual problems!” Marinette said to a few of the students who had been supporting her earlier in the week.

“Then what are you going to do for us, Marinette?” Mylène asked.

“Oh well...” the blunette hesitated, looking among the people assembled. “Well... while buying new chairs may be hard to convince the school about, surely if posed as a health concern it would be possible to convince them that allowing us cushions to sit on to prevent a loss of circulation to the legs wouldn't be out of the question. We could even perhaps personalize them so everyone knows which cushion is theirs...” she suggested, leaning in and whispering to Rose, “and yours could be glittery pink...” much to the smaller blond's delight.

“...And I'll argue your right to listen to music during study sessions, so long as you're wearing headphones and the volume is low enough that those around you can't hear it and the teacher can still get your attention...” she said, eyes shifting to Nino, Ivan, and Juleka. 

While she was talking, Marinette failed to notice Sabrina enter the City Hall with her hand suspiciously tucked behind her back. Chloé, however, had been waiting for this moment and so when Sabrina gestured for her to follow, she slipped away to consult with her red haired friend.

“Well? What dirt did you manage to dig up?” Chloé asked once she was sure they were out of sight and hearing range of all the other students. 

“Um, about that... there was a bit of a hiccup in the plan,” Sabrina admitted, pulling her arm out to show a pink box shaped like a bear trap locked shut around her wrist.

“Huh! What is that thing?” Chloé asked in surprise.

“I wanted to take her diary and then this thing just closed over my hand,” Sabrina explained.

“You're joking! Ugh! How did that-that disaster girl manage to thwart my plan like that so easily!?” Chloé raged.

~*~

Georges entered the school from the side door in concern. Adrien had sent him a message to drive around the side in order to avoid the media, but had failed to come out right away. If his charge was in trouble because he had abandoned his post at the front steps and let those media hounds in, he would never forgive himself. However, what he found upon entering the courtyard was much worse.

Fred was a man who knew enough about theatre and classic literature to stall an akumatized Armand. He didn't know how long he could keep talking the other man in circles, but he had to try every second he could in hopes his stalling tactics allowed the child to get away to safety and for someone to get the word out to the Parisian heroes. He knew he had to prevent this akuma calling itself Chevalier Noir from reaching City Hall because his precious little Mylène had sent a text that she was going with her boyfriend and some friends of theirs to a signing there.

However, the attempts to talk his way out of the situation with poetry and praise was pulled short by the entrance of the third party. “Sacrebleu! What a find! Thou shall be of great help on our quest,” Chevalier Noir declared upon seeing the mountain of a man that was the Agreste bodyguard. Though clearly worried, Georges stepped back into a boxing stance, prepared to fight any opponent he had to for the sake of his young charge. However, the akuma merely raised the jewel on his hilt and zapped both men before knighting them both.

Chat Noir pulled himself silently to the roof of the school, having left from the window and scaled the outer edge of the building. His tail flicked as he watched the giant gorilla-man be replaced with a halberd wielding slave identical to the reporter woman and camera man. Nothing of his size or bulk remained behind, just a figure of approximate height and build to that of M D'Argencourt. 

“Where for art the boy? I, Chevalier Noir, require a squire and he would serve me exceptionally,” the akuma questioned, eyes scanning about for Adrien.

Chat hissed quietly to himself at hearing this, even as Chevalier decided that the lack of Adrien to be his squire was not worth postponing his siege on City Hall over. He pulled out his baton, sliding it open and pulling up the texting app he had discovered he could reach Ladybug with. Mind, she would only get the messages if she was transformed, but Chat sent off a quick text informing Ladybug of the akuma's existence, what powers it seemed to have, and where he was 'pretty sure' the butterfly was hiding, before finishing the message with where they were going.

Chat Noir slunk across the roofs on all fours, tail lashing and ears twitching as he stalked his prey. He could hear birds chirping three blocks away, a toddler fussing that they didn't want to get their bedtime bath, a car radio blasting the latest Clara Nightingale song. It was a little distracting, but nothing his brain couldn't filter out. What was not so easy was the new... colour? Was it possible to smell colour? Because he could smell this one.

He didn't know how to describe it, it was like suddenly there was an eighth colour, distinctly different from everything else. Not like white, or black, or brown or anything either, it was a new colour that he had never experienced before, and his mind was having a very uncomfortable time trying to reconcile it. And the worst part was, everything seemed to practically be glowing this new colour that somehow had an almost musty smell. Some things glowed brighter with it, like the old dead leaves caught together in a wet soggy clump in the corner of a drain pipe. Other things it was simply a dull, almost non-existent ambience like the cement of the sidewalk or cobbled path below. But everything had it radiating off of it. Everything except for the akuma and it's transformed minions, and for some reason that fact turned Chat Noir's stomach with the wrongness of it.

Speaking of the akuma and it's minions, Chevalier Noir was zapping more civilians and knighting them into his army. Chat really needed to get a grip on himself soon to go put a stop to the akuma. His muscles bunched as he reached the end of the block and leapt across the road to the next batch of houses. His mind registered the question of why he was on all fours, but it just seemed to be the thing that his body had naturally done.

The chant of “Par le fer! Par le fer!” filled the street below, and civilians were beginning to crowd in windows to observe what was going on. By now their numbers had reached the double digits, and whether he felt adjusted to everything going on with his body or not, Chat knew he couldn't let the akuma continue unopposed.

Leaping down from his perch on the roof, Chat Noir faced Chevalier and his unit, pulling his baton out and levelling the point at the armoured figures. They were several blocks away from the school by now, so surely no one would question the feline hero having caught wind of the fencing instructor's akumatization and dropping in on them like this. It wouldn't be linked back to the blond, green-eyed student he had been giving private lessons to immediately prior to the start of the fight.

“Knights! Let us to battle!” Chevalier Noir declared, holding his sword out to the side, causing the soldiers to fan out in a flanking position.

“The people have spoken and you have lost the elections, D’Argencourt,” Chat announced, trying to keep an eye on all his opponents at once.

“‘Tis amusing the populace expresses themselves, D’Argencourt might have lost, but not the Chevalier Noir...!” he countered before charging. “En Garde!” Chat leapt over the first swing, landing behind the knight and quickly turned with a penetrating thrust of his pole. However, Chevalier used the momentum of the missed slash to spin his body around and parried the strike, knocking the staff to the side. He went to try and press his advantage, but Chat was faster and dodged to the right instead. “Seize him!”

The soldiers swarmed the cat-boy, thrusting and swinging with their halberds. The agile teen dipped and hopped and swerved, fast on his feet and even more flexible than normal. He could feel something building like electricity under his skin, coiling through him and putting his hair on end. He caught an overhead swing on his staff and redirected it, pinning three halberds together in a tangled mess of axe blades and poles against the ground. The faceless soldiers struggled to free their weapons while Chat noticed Chevalier Noir continuing on towards City Hall, leaving his unit to deal with the hero instead. Cursing this, Chat's ears swivelled at the sound of rushing wind coming from behind and ducked back down to all fours as another halberd nearly took his head off but instead crashed into the trio who's weapons Chat had entangled.

They fell over from the force of the blow and Chat sprang over their prone forms and bounded up the street to cut off Chevalier's advance once more. He skidded around, metal claws sending off sparks against the road as he slid to a halt before standing up and brandishing his staff once more. “What's this? I didn't take you to be such a scaredy-cat, purrhaps you--” Chat cut himself off in surprise mid-taunt at the sound that had just come out of his own mouth. He hadn't meant to purr like that. “Purrhaps-purrha-purr-purr...” he tried again as he lunged and parried Chevalier's blows on muscle memory alone. Yet for the life of him, he couldn't seem to prevent the purr when he tried to make the 'pr' sound. 

“Purretty, purroud, purractice, purrance...” he tried, just to prove to himself he wasn't mistaken. “Unpurrfessional...” Yep, even when the sound was within the middle of a word, Chat found he couldn't stop himself from purring out the sound. Well, it was annoying, though not unmanageable all things considered.

“What art thou prattling on about?” Chevalier demanded of Chat Noir.

“Oooh, that's a good one! Purrattle! Purrferate, purrchance, pretend... hey, wait, it didn't do it that time!” Chat noticed as he moved to intercept a few soldiers who were attempting to bypass him by going down the outer edge of the street. “Pretence, preamble... huh, I guess it's a purrnunciation thing, then...” 

Finally having gotten bored by his own babble, Chat jumped before another group of soldiers who obsessively marched onward towards the City Hall with chants of “Par le fer!” even as Chat combated them. He grit his teeth in annoyance, eyes scanning the rooftops for that telltale flash of red that always made his heart sing. That prickling under his skin was growing more intense by the second, and he worried what might be going on and what would happen once it reached it's maximum intensity.

This wasn't working, but he couldn't do anything with the akumatized item until Ladybug appeared, even if he could get it away from Chevalier Noir. The only option he had was to stall the army's advance and try and prevent as many civilians as possible from becoming zombies in the process. He thought for a moment of potentially stealing the akuma's sword and running away with it until Ladybug showed up, but there was no telling what the army would do in retaliation. There was no way for him to keep the sword away from them and ensure minimal property and civilian casualty at the same time. At least this way the only thing they were attempting to damage for the moment was him, and after that power-up that Plagg had granted him the blows that landed hardly hurt at all.

But try as he might, Chevalier kept adding to his numbers, up to around twenty halberders now, and Chat was starting to be overwhelmed. Within the narrow lane with buildings on either side of them, he was able to at least somewhat keep the flow of movement under control, but as he was pushed back into an intersection, the army was given more room to manoeuvre around him. His only hope of stopping them was when they reached a bottleneck once more, and so he dashed over to the far end of the intersection where the mouth of the next block was situated and extended his baton horizontally so it blocked the army's path forward.

“Remove this cretonne! My knights, charge!” Chevalier Noir instructed from the back of the crowd, pointing his sword forward as the small army began advancing at a run.

“WARGGGH!” the soldiers cried as they charged, hitting the staff at a full run. The metal bowed under the combined weight and akuma-enhanced strength pushing against it, Chat's boots skidding across the ground a little as he tried to hold the line. He had to stop their advance, he couldn't just let an akuma do whatever it pleased in the city and hurt others, he had made that mistake on his birthday. Never again would he just sit back and be complacent against Papillon. 

He had to be here to protect his Lady, this wasn't a threat she could stand up to on her own, and he didn't want to abandon her even if she could manage by herself. He remembered the way the other Ladybug had cried after she had lost him, how she had buried her face in his neck and held on for dear life. He wouldn't put his Ladybug through that, no matter what it took, no matter the eighth colour or the walking on all fours or the strange inability to say 'pr', that was why he had done this. His hand stung a little as a reminder of the blood he had spilled as a sacrifice to his kwami, deadened by whatever stopped the rest of the strikes feel numbed.

Gritting his teeth, Chat dropped to a lower, wider stance. His Lady needed him to hold back the forces of evil, he was her knight, her protector, and by every force in this universe he would be just that. He took a step forward. She needed him to chase away the fears that gripped her mind during battles. He took another step. She needed him to keep the monsters at bay so she would have time to form a winning strategy. And another. He would ignore the pain for her. Another. He would ignore the mounting current under his skin. Another. He would live, and die, and kill if she needed it of him. Another. The butt of a halberd struck the back of his head again, another jabbing into his back just below his shoulder blade, but he ignored the strikes and just drove the mob back by yet another step.

“Warggg?” the confused soldiers cried as they continued to try and push forward, even as their forty-some feet scrapped backwards across the ground with a grating, elongated 'scritch'-like sound. And still Chat pushed on, their combined strength unable to match his, for he had his Lady to defend and he would hold every line in existence until she was safe. He pushed them nearly back to the opposite side of the intersection, pole being stopped from pushing them farther by the buildings standing to either side, and looked up at the soulless green glow of their identical helmets, bore his elongated canines, and hissed.

“Enough of this nonsense!” Chevalier Noir declared, that and the shuffling to the side of the soldiers was the only warnings Chat Noir got before a beam of crimson energy fired towards him. 

Chat ducked to the side as quickly as he could, the mind-control beam sailing over his shoulder by mere centimetres. He then sprang back to avoid another blow, then left for another. He jumped behind a conveniently placed parked car before realizing he had abandoned his staff in his desperation to dodge. However, he barely had a chance to take a rest, lights being fired at him once more as Chevalier rounded the side of the vehicle. 

The current under his skin was reaching a fever pitch, sending prickles of unease up and down his limbs and making him want to just arch his back and curl up in a little ball somewhere to hide. It was almost like someone had taken a balloon and rubbed it all over his body, filling him up with static that was just waiting for the chance to discharge. It was almost as though he could hear something coming, like encroaching hooves against earthen ground, though he knew there was no such creature for in reality he heard no such noise. No, his hearing was far too keen for such a thing. 

He could hear every word of commentary being rattled off by the two université boys down the next block over who were ducked out the door of a local café recording the fight on their phones. The distant sounds of traffic driving about, undisrupted by the akuma fight several blocks away. He could hear the concerned words of families, pressed to their windows and watching the fight unfold, wondering about their safety but too scared to danger the streets to try and flee to less affected areas. He would know if there was really a galloping building up.

Chat started to spring back from another crimson blast, and though he cleared the beam, once his feet fully left the ground he felt it. Like letting off a static shock, the energy coiling under his skin zapped to the point on his back where a halberd blade struck him in the ribs, just below his left shoulder blade. He was suddenly careening through the air, flipping uncontrollably head-over-heels until he crashed through the side of an abandoned semi, leaving a tear in the metal that he had punched strait through.

The world was silent for a moment, everyone waiting with baited breath to see what happened next. Did their hero just fall? Were they witnessing Le Papillon's decisive win? Where was Ladybug during all of this? The rhythmic clanking of dozens of metalic feet striking the ground in unison began to ring out once more as the army began advancing again, drifting back to formation as they marched towards their final destination. A low rumble began, like the motor of an engine, growing in volume and intensity as it revved up to become what was clearly a very deep-throated growl like those let out by alpha predators. 

A clawed black hand emerged from the darkness that was cast by the interior of the semi and embedded itself into the torn metal on the right side. Then another clawed hand emerged and repeated the motion on the left. There was a pause as everyone waited with baited breath, before Chat Noir shot like a bullet from the hole, ferocious snarl on his face, feet not even touching the ground as he wound back with his right claws and laid in to the first soldier he reached with a vengeance. 

For the next minute he was like a feral little hurricane. His blows hit with enough force to leave dents, his claws slashed long curling ribbons of black metal from the soldier's armour. He left a trail of battered bodies in his wake. The civilians cheered at the proof that what was now clearly only a minor setback was not going to turn the tides of this battle and their heroes were still going strong. Chat snatched his baton and bounded forwards on all fours, taking swipes at the marching soldier's legs as he passed, pulling ahead to the Seine where he cut them off again on the bridge.

Chat brandished his baton again as he came to a halt, extending it to the length of a foil and aiming it at Chevalier Noir. The challenge was clear and Chevalier met him mid-way to a clanging of metal—staff on sword—as the pair battled for ground against each other. Their weapons swivelled to the side as Chevalier pushed into Chat's space that he was refusing to yield, weapon's forming an x between them. But Chevalier proved to not fight cleanly as he shot out a red energy beam out at Chat in this moment. It was easy to dodge, given the fact it hadn't really been aimed at him properly, but it disrupted his footing and with a swift kick to his chest he was sent stumbling back into the railing of the bridge they were on.

Another blast had him balancing precariously in a crouch atop the railing, tail lashing out behind him in both agitation and in an attempt to maintain his balance. Chevalier then charged with a sweeping arch of his sword so quickly that Chat had to lift his staff between both hands to stop himself getting cut in half and was sent tumbling over the edge into the murky waters below. The soldiers swarmed the railing to look for his body, but Chevalier merely stated, “Don’t waste thy time! City Hall awaits us!”

~*~

Marinette was sure she had almost won over at least some of her classmates when Chloé herself sauntered up. In a condescending tone, indicating exactly how little she thought of Marinette's efforts, she stated, “Oh! it’s incredible, you almost sound like a rep… what a shame you have no chance at winning…” Marinette turned and shot the blond girl her best glare, which faltered into a momentary look of terror as Chloé stepped confidently into her personal space. Nearly a decade of being bullied caused Marinette to flinch back at this motion but Chloé simply pushed further into her bubble until her mouth was beside Marinette's ear and she muttered, “We gotta talk.”

Giving the blunette no option to avoid the situation, her forearm was grabbed in Chloé's long-nailed grasp and she was manhandled away from the lineup of her peers who were awaiting their turn to interact with the pop star. Everyone just watched her go, being lead away against her will to a place out of everyone's sight, too conditioned by Chloé for anyone to think of trying to speak up and stop them. Marinette's panicking mind whirled at what could the meaning be of this, supplying fates ranging from getting beaten up by what looked like a cross between an American football team and a biker gang, to being murdered and having her body disposed of.

She was a little underwhelmed when all that was in the small side room she had been pulled to was an empty office and Sabrina standing nervously in front of the large wooden desk. It took Marinette a moment to register the white-on-pink polka-dotted box stuck around one of Sabrina's hands, and a moment more for her brain to register what that box actually was. With a gasp of horror, Marinette exclaimed, “Whaaat?! My diary! How did you get it?”

“If you don’t step down as a candidate, all your secrets will be revealed Marinette,” Chloé threatened, gesturing to the box that trapped Sabrina's hand.

“Oh you…” she began in panic, but Marinette quickly was catching on to the bluff and thought fast. “I mean… what secrets?” she bluffed, crossing her arms and looking aside in an attempt to appear unconcerned.

Chloé just laughed at her feeble attempts to get the upper hand. “Well, we’ll know, as soon as I open your box with a chainsaw.”

Sabrina looked like she was about to raise objections of her own to this plan as she clutched her hand to her chest, but never got a chance to voice any of them as the sound of horns filled the air from somewhere outside. The three girls hurried out of the room and came to join the rest of their classmates who had gathered in the doors and windows so they could see out. Chloé pushed her way to the front, and Marinette followed the path she had cleared and looked around the blond's shoulder to see a row of a good fifty people in black medieval armour lined along the streets. The ones blowing on large golden horns finally lowered them as another of the green knights stepped forward.

“Hear ye, hear ye! The Chevalier Noir will speak, listen or you’ll be imprisoned!” 

The black knight in red, the only one in that colour and the only one bearing a sword, then stepped forward as the announcer moved back into line. “Henceforth, my banner shall rise again above this land. Bourgeois, give up, come make battle!”

“What did he say?” the mayor asked, baffled by the situation.

“Oh, hm…basically; ‘come fight me, peasant,’” Alya supplied helpfully, causing Mayor Bourgeois to pale and cower.

“Oh, come and make an appointment with my secretary,” he called out the double doors before pulling them closed and running for cover.

Chevalier Noir laughed at the feeble attempt, “Kneel down before the Chevalier Noir, or thee shalt taste my blade!”

“Par le fer! Par le fer! Par le fer!” the soldiers chanted as they began to build up momentum into a full on charge. “WAAAARG!”

Suddenly from above, a small silver baton came spinning down and ricocheted off several soldiers, knocking them out of their charge before spinning back to the outstretched hand of the leather-clad hero that had just dropped down before the doors to City Hall. “Seize him!” Chevalier Noir ordered.

“Do you tin cans only know heavy metal?” Chat quipped as he charged forward to meet his assailants head-on.

He split his staff in two, using both sides to block incoming blows. He leaned back just enough to let a downward strike from the front sweep harmlessly into the ground, before stepping up on the poleaxe and using it as a springboard to kick it's wielder into two other soldiers who all crashed together into the stone wall before falling in an unconscious heap. Chat then leapt back over the other direction, flipping between their wild swings and landing in a splayed crouch before lashing out in a sweeping movement and knocking the group off their feet. 

He was then forced to turn away and not press his advantage in order to block a flurry of incoming strikes. Someone tried to take him off-guard from the side, but he flipped them over for their effort, and let out a triumphant laugh. He didn't, however, notice the soldiers he had swept the feet out from under getting back up and leaping for him, burying him at the bottom of a dog pile. 

However, as the voices of his classmates (What? Why were they here of all places?) raised up in worry from within City Hall, Chat Noir planted his hands under his chest and pushed up like he were doing push-ups. He brought a knee forward to help support him, and lifted his hands to grab at the soldiers higher. Looking sort of like the statue of Atlas, he paused as he shifted the squirming weight above him before moving to a stand and then even fully suspending the lot of the soldiers above his head. With a mighty heave, he sent them flying and into the disoriented mob. 

Chat snatched his staff up just in time to send a small unit flying into the air when they attempted to charge. “Nice warm up, but I'm ready. Let's fight!” Chat declared and Chevalier came at him with a flying leap, using the added momentum to give strength to his downward swing that Chat hurried to parry, even as he moved back out of the sword's arc.

Another side-slashing swing, and Chat moved with the blade and attempted to circle around to the back of the akuma, only for Chevalier to spin and face him, both taking up fencing stances as their weapons crossed each other at the tips. Chat quickly catalogued every opening his opponent presented before lunging in with a speed he rarely reached in his civilian form. The battle was on.

~*~

“Whoa! Did you see that?!” Alya enthused, one arm around Marinette's shoulders in a protective gesture even as the other hand held her phone aloft out the window, filming the fight taking place. Oh, Marinette was seeing it alright, she was seeing her partner struggle alone against impossible odds, fighting desperately to protect everyone—protect her as always, even if he didn't know he was doing so—while she was unable to get away to help him. 

It was a well-known fact by this point that Marinette was terrified of akuma, running away and hiding in any little hole she could find the moment they appeared and not coming out again until after the Miracle Cure had cleansed all the damages. And even then, she was reluctant in emerging, often not showing her face for several minutes and looking about like a scared little mouse once she did. Because of this, Alya felt the need to hold her close to give her comfort, and point out to her every time Chat pushed back the oncoming attack to reassure her that they were indeed safe within the heroes' hands.

“Ladybug will be here soon, too, don't worry!” Alya promised. “Then you can see for yourself how great she is and you won't have to feel so scared anymore!”

However, Ladybug was already here and unable to get away to transform and save everyone because of her best friend's insistence on being supportive. So all Marinette could do was watch on with worried eyes as her black cat-boy put himself on the line to protect everyone.

That was when she overheard the stupidest thing she had heard in her life—and she knew Kim since preschool! “It would seem that my fans are there, there’s no problem, I will give them what they desire,” XY announced, completely tone-deaf to the situation at hand. He lifted his guitar by the neck and looped the strap over his head before bravely marching out onto the front steps. “Hello Paris!” he called as if he were in a concert hall full of his adoring fans. “♫Yeaaaaaaah♪” he sang.

Chat and Chevalier fenced on, ignoring the annoyance. “Ugh, he calls that mewsic?” Chat chewed out, only to blink as he had found another noise he apparently couldn't say properly anymore. Chevalier pressed his advantage at Chat's wandering mind, pushing the feline hero back and Chat forced himself to re-hone his focus before pushing to regain his lost ground. He pushed Chevalier back nearly three car lengths when Chevalier's armed guard jumped back into the fray and began ganging up on the poor hero again. 

Chevalier stepped back and confidently approached the pop star, who admittedly was behaving a little high, and addressed him. “Behold, a minstrel.”

“Hey there bro, I know you’re my fans, but there is no reason to fight over me,” XY humbly bragged, but at least he was trying to talk the situation down.

“Art thee Champion to the Usurper?” Chevalier questioned, brandishing his blade at XY.

“Am I what?” the teen idol questioned in confusion. A moment later he was struck by a red beam right between his eyes and dropped to his knee in a bow to be knighted. The new soldier then rose to his feet and eagerly scampered off to go join in the beating of Chat Noir.

~*~

The students were in a panic at the sight of their beloved idol being turned into a mindless drone for the akuma. Never had they seen such a tactic before, and they weren't sure how to handle such a thing. Rose ran to where Chloé had taken shelter under the front desk and asked, “Chloé, what do we do?!” Chloé was bossy, they were all used to doing what she told them and were now looking to her for direction.

“I remind you that I am not yet your rep, but if I am chosen I’ll answer you… tomorrow…” Chloé said in response.

“But we can’t wait for tomorrow!” Rose argued.

“In that case we have a problem, so I suggest you ask someone else,” Chloé brushed the other blond aside.

Marinette cast her eyes about. This was bad, they were in danger. She was Ladybug, but she couldn't get away to transform and save everyone! All because she had to pretend to panic more than she really did in order to protect her identity! Oh, if only she could call forth a Lucky Charm to save everyone without transforming, though she'd probably still have to figure out how to use some obscure item by combining it with things in her environment, like some real-time mouse-trap setup or something that would trap the akuma, or halt the advance, but maybe—just maybe—Marinette could manage to channel some of that Ladybug magic and put together a plan from the things she had at hand? Her eyes landed on the chair and table that the signing had been using, then on the door handles that were intricate swooping things, and then on her strongest classmates.

Marinette bolted from Alya's side, grabbing the chair by the seat and running for the doors where everyone had gathered to peak out from. “The doors, QUICK!” she yelled, and Alix quickly slammed them shut before jumping aside. Marinette slammed the legs of the chair down so that each of the back legs were hooked through the door handles, then reached over and locked the door for good measure. “Kim, Ivan! Go grab that table and anything else heavy you can find and barricade the door! Alix, Rose, Sabrina! Go around and make sure any other doors or windows are closed and locked! Go now!”

Though not from a source that anyone was used to obeying, the orders were barked with such insistence and gave them actual direction in their panic that people found themselves moving to obey without question. Chloé lifted her head unsurely from behind the reception desk and looked at everyone before clearing her throat and stating, “Yes, exactly, that was just what I was about to say. Sabrina, Ivan, Kim… go and close the door.”

Though she hadn't been told to, Juleka went over and started dragging a bookshelf towards the front as well, and Nino who saw her soon stepped up to help too, soon everyone was either ducking into rooms to search for open windows or lugging some piece of furniture over to slow their assailants down.

“R-right, um,” Marinette began again, and everyone turned to look at her expectantly. Even some of the adult staff that worked at City Hall were deferring to her, as she was the one with the plans. “That should be enough for the door. Um, how many ways up are there?” she asked a staff member. 

“Well, other than the elevators, there's fire escapes at either side of the building and the main stairwell here,” they helpfully supplied.

“Right, Kim, go take some people to help you move some things to block the left, Ivan, you do the same on the right,” Marinette directed. “I know it won't be much, but to slow them down if they should be able to get in...”

“Kim, go block the left door, Ivan go block the right one,” Chloé echoed.

Marinette sighed in aggravation. “Shut up, Chloé.”

“Shut up, Chloé...” she echoed, before realizing what she had just said, “oops...”

During all of this, Mayor Bourgeois had not been helping, instead he had been on his phone. At first, it had been clear he was on his calling in reinforcements from the police and even the military. But now that Marinette was listening again, she noticed that he seemed to have a rather different thing he was saying. “--helicopter to the roof! This monster is after me! I demand that my daughter and I are evacuated to safety!”

“I hope there's room on this helicopter for the rest of us!” she challenged as she glared up at the man. 

“Oh, don't worry, little girl,” he placated, patting her on the head as he put his phone away. “The heroes will come and save everyone as always.”

“Then why are _you_ getting evacuated by _helicopter?!_ ” she demanded, only vaguely aware that Alya's phone had swivelled to watch her rather than the fight taking place outside.

“Well, my dear, leaders must be kept safe during attacks so they can oversee everything and keep things organized,” he insisted in that same condescending tone Chloé had used earlier.

Marinette snapped. “You aren't leading a _damn thing! I'm_ the one who's been telling everyone what to do! _You've_ done nothing but run away! You haven't even stepped up to help move furniture!”

“Oh, well, I have these bad hips...” he began to fabricate his excuse. 

Marinette glared daggers at the older man, but her looks of contempt had no effect. The people that had been down the side halls blocking the stairwells were now returning and so Marinette declared, “Everyone, up to the second floor! We'll close the hall doors there and set up a secondary barricade, as well as ones on the side stairs once we're up there!”

Everyone nodded and hurried up top, where only after confirming everyone really was accounted for did they shut the doors and begin moving desks and shelves again. Alya was one of the first to go peel off, to go stand in an office and record out the window the fight taking place down below. They heard the akuma call out “Kneel before the banner of Chevalier Noir. Surrender or perish!” followed by a loud bang from down below. 

This prompted the worried students to gather at the windows and saw that the soldiers were using one of their own as a battering ram to try and break the door down. Chat Noir barrelled into them like a four-legged cannonball, but it was still one against at least fifty soldiers and even the Hero of Paris was starting to tire. A peek by Marinette let her notice that he seemed to have lost his staff at some point during the time she hadn't been watching him as now he wielded a stolen halberd that he swung about two-handed in an effort to take down as many enemies as he could with every swing, rather than the finesse of his usual fighting style.

The soldiers tried again to make another human battering ram but after their second bang against the door, Chat was back, swinging the halberd like a bat and sending them flying. Kim gave a low, impressed whistle at the show of strength, a few other students starting to have smiles tugging at the corners of their mouths as well.

“What do we do now, Marinette?” Mylène asked, worried eyes on the taller blunette girl. Rose and Max likewise were looking to her for guidance, though most of the class was pressed to the windows. 

“I don't see what has you all so captivated, all that's there is that useless mangy cat! He can't even win the fight by himself! The only hero worth anything is Ladybug!” Chloé insisted from where she stood back, leaning against the door frame and looking down her nose at everyone else.

“You don't know what you're talking about, Chloé. Chat Noir is kicking serious ass!” Alix countered, never one to shy away from what she thinks.

“Too cool,” Juleka stated, voice managing to lift just above a mumble, as she watched the cat-boy with transfixed eyes.

“Over there!” Nathaniel suddenly shouted, and Chat Noir's eyes shot up to the window where he stood before following the red-head's finger along with the rest of the class to where soldiers were beginning to stack themselves into human ladders to try and scale the walls. He took after them instantly, knocking their formation over and punching one of their faces in with a snarl for good measure.

“Yeah!” Nino and Ivan cheered together, their adrenaline pumping in sympathy to Chat Noir.

“He can hear us,” Alya realized at the same time, awed and wondering just how good his hearing was.

At that same moment, Marinette was back to issuing orders. “We need to make sure all the windows are locked! And grab chairs to prop under door handles anywhere that has no one inside! Slow them down as best we can!” she instructed, and those who weren't too absorbed in the fight took off running to obey.

“They're making another battering ram!” Alix suddenly shouted, and Chat didn't even bother looking up as he swivelled around and took off after the formation. It wasn't long before Ivan and even Kim joined her, shouting out formations they saw developing, acting as eyes in the sky for their lone hero.

“But... where is Ladybug?” Alya questioned, confused. “Chat Noir needs her to be able to purify the akuma and fix everything...”

~*~

Chevalier Noir was growing increasingly infuriated by the cat themed hero who seemed to have more lives than a cursed feline ought. But he wanted Bourgeois who he had seen in an upper floor window, along with the children who had been gawking from the door earlier, it was clear they had moved to higher ground for a more defensible position. Whomever their strategist, he had to give them props for their quick wit. However, there was much more to a siege than just soldiers, and the building these simpletons had chosen for their headquarters was far from built to withstand such an assault. 

He brought his sword down atop two cars that were parked facing the building, transforming them as he knighted them into a pair of catapults. If his soldiers could not break down the front gate or climb the walls, then they would fly from above and bring him his quarry from an angle that neither the cat nor strategist could stop them from coming. The first to be catapulted flew high. They readjusted their aim and tried again, this time the soldier smacked face-first into the wall. They readjusted again, only slightly this time.

“Back off, you tin cans!” Chat shouted at the army as he tried to fight his way through the mob to where the catapults stood. However, they swarmed him in a clear intent to keep him from interfering with whatever it was Chevalier Noir was attempting to do with them.

Again they shot out, and a crashing sound filled the air, followed by a shower of glass shards and horrified shrieking from above. The students scattered about, searching for somewhere to hide or escape in this place they had barricaded themselves into. Kim sprinted down the hall, followed by some of the others, to try and dig their way out to the fire escape. Juleka pulled a chair away from one of the back office doors and tried to hide herself inside. No one noticed that Marinette had gone missing ever since she had ordered the second floor windows to be locked up. 

It didn't take long for five soldiers to take Mayor Bourgeois captive, opting to just jump back out the windows with him instead of waste time on the barricades. Other soldiers marched the halls, looking to gather up any wayward souls who were trying to hide from them. Their siege had been successful, despite the best efforts of a lone hero and a handful of trapped civilians. And now the mayor was being forced to kneel before the akuma, not by power of a red beam, but by soldiers shoving him down and holding him in a submissive position.

Chat panicked for his Oncle's safety, knowing Chloé was in the building—having heard her screams—he didn't want her to have to witness anything happening to her father, the only family she really had left. And Oncle André had always been nice to him, always had a smile for him and welcomed him into his home to be around his daughter. Even when they got older, when having boys around started to be concerning for public image, he never said they could no longer hang out alone. But this was one of Chevalier Noir's goals in hand and all fifty-ish soldiers were intent on not letting Chat get in the way.

“Don't hurt me!” the mayor wailed, panic clear in his voice.

Chevalier lifted his sword, blade perpendicular to the ground. “No!” Chat Noir cried, surging forward in hopes of reaching his Oncle before the stout man was dismembered or decapitated, but he knew he was too far away, had too many soldiers to fight his way through, and as the sword swung down he could only watch in horror. It came to touch one shoulder, though rather than slice through the man's flesh or even his jacket it lifted again and came to touch the other shoulder. 

Even as Chat Noir landed on Chevalier Noir's chest, claws and feet first with a snarl, the green light enveloped the kneeling man and he stood again no different from any other mindless drone in this battle. Chevalier struck Chat away, letting him be engulfed once more in the swarm of minions. “Victory is mine but for my banner to fly over this kingdom,” he declared, stepping up to one of the catapults and climbing in.

Realizing what the akuma's final aim was, and feeling it would be a very bad idea to let him have his way, Chat took a running start to vaulting himself to the roof of the City Hall where the French flag flapped proudly in the wind. A moment later Chevalier landed beside him. Further soldiers were being catapulted up, or were building their human ladders and climbing to the roof even as Chat faced off once again against the akuma. 

Then finally—finally!—like a godsend he heard the telltale zip-line of a very familiar yo-yo before a red and black spotted figure shot over the edge of the roof. At the apex of her swing, her yo-yo disentangled and zipped back to her hand as she angled her body so she came down on Chevalier Noir hands-first and made a valiant grab for his blade. However, she barely touched it when Chevalier swung his sword, throwing her off with little effort. “Curse showy acrobats!” he snarled. She crashed into the wall with a startled squawk before dropping to the roof in an ungraceful heap.

“Milady!” Chat cried, leaping to where he stood protectively over her prone form, slashing his baton around at the gathered soldiers, as she pulled herself together.

Ladybug's head spun a little, wondering how the world seemed to have gone to hell in the few minutes she had been gone. Seriously, she knew it had taken Tikki a little bit to manoeuvre the chair under the door handle so no one would find the window she had left open for her to slip back inside from. But that couldn't have taken more than a minute or two, and then she had transformed and jumped out the back of the building, running on rooftops until she was several blocks away before circling around back to the fight so no one would realize she had been inside the City Hall building when the attack started and use that to narrow down her identity off of who was the missing girl. But still...!

“Ugh, sorry I left you to deal with such a heavy hitter for so long! I had a lot of trouble sneaking away from the people I was with when I got the news about the latest akuma,” she explained as she pushed herself to her feet. Noticing they were more or less surrounded, she pulled her yo-yo out and began spinning it in a shield as she pressed her shoulder into his back to let him know she had the left. He shifted his posture slightly to compensate for her.

“No worries! For you, I could wait an eternity if I needed to,” Chat shot over his shoulder, engaging those he could without moving to compromise the guard he had put up for Ladybug's sake.

A halberd pierced forward, thrusting through the momentary gap in between the loops of her string, which tangled quickly along the length of the shaft. She made a half-swallowed sound of surprise as she attempted to yank her yo-yo free, but before it could unwind completely, the soldier tugged harder, pulling Ladybug off her feet and into a kick that struck her in the chest and knocked the air out of her. She stumbled back and Chat switched hands on his staff so he could reach back and steady her, striking at the one who had kicked her as he did so.

He was able to knock the halberd out of the soldier's hand, and Ladybug quickly ducked down and retrieved her yo-yo before anything else could be done to it. “How have you been trading blows with all these people this whole time?” Ladybug questioned, looking around and trying to figure out her best plan of attack while rubbing at the sore spot on her chest and still trying to get back her breath.

“Purrhaps it would be best for you to stay back this time,” Chat suggested, shifting back so he could keep an eye on everyone at once easier.

“Ugh, seriously? Cat puns?” Ladybug questioned, sounding thoroughly disgusted.

Chat's ears drooped a little. This was no longer just a silly quirk to annoy the akuma with, it was something his Lady openly disliked. “Sorry, I purromise to behave! But really, now that you're here, I can focus on getting the sword and you can purify it and put everything right again. So you should just stay back and let me fight for you.”

“To fight for the favour of one's fair lady,” Chevalier Noir observed, “thy heart is truly chivalrous. What say thee, thy kingdom hast fallen before the might of I, Chevalier Noir, so why not throw down your arms and swear allegiance to me instead? Though mine first choice of squire has somehow managed to elude me, I would welcome one such as you, Chat Noir, at my side! Even your fair lady would be granted sanctuary within my court,” he offered, holding out a hand to the young heroes expectantly.

“A court filled with nothing but mindless slaves? Sorry, but I think not!” Ladybug spat out, letting her yo-yo fly to try and snatch the akuma while Chevalier Noir was distracted talking. He moved the blade out of her way without effort.

“Ah, well, you heard Milady. She's not going, and seeing as where she goes I go, then apparently I'm not, either!” Chat shrugged carelessly. “So in that case, if my beautiful Lady would be so kind as to step back...”

Ladybug didn't like it, she didn't want to feel so useless and not help her partner, but it was true against this current threat he had been handling himself far better prior to her getting involved. She noticed one soldier clambering onto the roof, carrying a solid red flag with one of those old coat-of-arms lions in pure black on it. “A-alright, fight hard, mon Minou,” she reluctantly agreed, sending her yo-yo flying and pulling herself atop the clock tower she had hit earlier.

As soon as she was clear, Chat Noir lunged forward, his staff swinging about and sending the soldiers flying in all directions. Seeing him coming, the flag-bearer threw their precious quarry to one of the people that had made the human ladder that Chevalier had used to climb to the top of the roof where the French flag flew. It was then quickly handed upwards so even as Chat Noir barrelled into the base of their ladder, knocking the whole thing down, the soldier at the top clung to the edge of the roof and handed the flag reverently to Chevalier Noir before losing his grip and falling with everyone else.

The soldiers on the section of roof down below did all they could to restrain Chat Noir as Chevalier sliced down the French flag and let it clatter away as a forgotten relic. “Once my standard hath replaced this treacherous thing, my victory will be total. By the iron of my sword, I declare that all the citizens of this kingdom are my subjects! Kneel to thy Lord!” As he plunged his flag into position, a beam of black energy shot up to the sky and began spreading out until it was several kilometres large, blotting out the sun.

Ladybug got a sinking sensation in her gut, this definitely couldn't be good. On the outer edges of the darkness it suddenly dropped down like a curtain of black in all directions. “Milady,” Chat suddenly said from beside her, and Ladybug jumped, having not heard or seen him return to her side, “the shadow wall... it looks like it's moving closer!”

“That really can't be good. There's no telling what will happen if that-that shadow wall reaches us. We have to end this quickly. Lucky Charm!” the sudden flash of pink light as the ladybugs formed into the object was nearly blinding as the only source of light in the sky for that one moment. And then into her hands fell something light and soft that she was having difficulty making out in the gloom. “Wh-what--?” she began to question at the same time Chat blinked and noted “A glove?”

She looked at him only able to make him out because of his faintly glowing green eyes, and recalling that he could indeed see in perfect darkness as easily as day. “I can't use this if I can't see anything!” Ladybug admitted, on the verge of panic. 

A hand hooked behind her shoulders and she was pulled into a chest that had a vaguely familiar smell by this point of leather, boy, something wild and almost spicy, and cheese. “Shhh, shhh, it's okay. I actually think I might have some idea how to use it—whoops, no you don't!” he suddenly broke off, and she saw the faint glow coming from the helmet of one of the soldiers before a metal clang and the face vanished once more over what must be the edge of the roof she stood on. 

Tentatively, the Lucky Charm was lifted from her hand, but he did not move at first, worry clearly etched in the eyes that made up all of him she could see. “I-I can see their glowing helmets, I'll be okay!” she said, holding up her yo-yo and forcing as much confidence as she could muster into her barely quivering voice. He only stayed a moment more before she saw his eyes bob in what was likely a single nod and then he was gone.

She strained every sense she had to try and keep track of what was going on seeing only the faint green glows of the soldier's masks practically swarming around below her. Then she heard his voice, clear and bold through all the clinking metal and felt her heart calm just that little bit more. 

“Those uncultured swine of yours, trying to manhandle a fair maiden! I challenge you to a duel for Milady's honour!” Chat Noir stated, striking Chevalier Noir across his helmet with the glove, leaning in to the whole chivalrous knight routine. After nearly a decade of lessons from this man, Chat felt rather sure of himself that he could predict his fencing master's reactions. It had been M D'Argencourt, after all, who had taught Chat Noir through several long conversations in his preteens about how to act like a gentleman and how women should be treated.

“En garde, then,” Chevalier Noir responded, saluting with his sword as the soldiers cleared them a place to fight it out. Chat knew they had limited time, and so pressed aggressively every thrust and slash he could make with his staff, always trying for moves to disarm Chevalier instead of going for the blows that dealt the most damage.

Chevalier kicked him in the chest, pushing Chat Noir back a few steps, but he quickly regained it by jumping forward in a roll and came up at Chevalier's back. The knight spun, his sword going to decapitate Chat, but was met with the staff. Chat pushed in to the hilt of the blade, lifting it up at an angle over his head and stepping below it until he stood in an open stance with Chevalier. He twisted the staff around to the other side of the hilt, attempting to hook the staff over the top instead of holding it underneath, where he could disarm the older fighter with a downward swing. 

However, Chevalier Noir jumped away from the boy before he could successfully move his staff into the final locking position and moved back. Chevalier Noir then stood facing Chat, feet together and hands held outstretched to the sides. Chat Noir blinked at the knight, recognizing at once what pose that was as he'd spent the afternoon trying to learn the technique himself. But he couldn't let on that fact without giving away his identity. For the moment he could play the cautious kitten, hesitant to jump into such an obvious trap, but a beeping in the distance reminded him he didn't have all day for this.

Okay, so he had three minutes max and one shot to beat the ultimate technique of his fencing school. No technique was flawless, they all had their weaknesses, he just had to hurry up and break the move down into all its individual parts and figure out where the best moment to counter and how would be. The whole purpose of the technique was that it was a disarming one that left the opponent prone and defenceless on the floor. So he'd obviously have to dodge the shoulder check that would knock him over, be ready to step back instead of fully committing to the charge. And if he got disarmed he still had his claws and fists and Cataclysm...

He glanced down at the ring on his hand, wondering if he should try to Cataclysm the blade as he was being disarmed, but if he got the timing wrong, he'd end up just turning his own staff to dust instead. He'd rather not be left defenceless against such a foe, though when the strike got within the martingale of... his... staff? He almost laughed, his staff had no martingale nor any hilt, there was nothing for the blade to entangle and take control of the weapon with! He could do this!

Chat Noir lunged forward, and predictably Chevalier Noir took up the pose with the sword behind his back. Chat waited until that split second where Chevalier spun his back to Chat to move back out of his lunge and pivoting on his right foot he spun on the outside of the sword, grabbing it with his left hand as he continued spinning and wrenched it free from the surprised knight's grasp. “Cataclysm!” he called, watching the blade rust away to a red-brown hunk before it crumbled and the akuma took to the skies.

“You've done enough harm, little akuma. I free you from evil!” Ladybug called, open yo-yo zipping out to close around the purple light that shone out under the otherwise black butterfly. Opening her yo-yo again, she watched as the underlit white insect fluttered up into the air in search of safety and freedom. “Bye-bye, little butterfly.”

“Milady,” Chat Noir prompted, his voice coming from beside her as he carefully placed a glove in her hand.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she cried with relief as the swarm of ladybugs returned the sky to normal. She then turned to her partner and held out her hand. 

“Bien joué!” 

~*~

Ladybugs swirled around him as Le Papillon came back to his senses within the comfortably familiar confines of his lair. He cursed under his breath, wanting something to hurt, something to break, something to bend to his will until he felt in control again. That had been far too close a call for a minute there with that last akuma. 

He became Le Papillon because he wanted—no, deserved—the ultimate power, not to hand it off over to someone else whilst he became nothing more than a mindless slave! He had not thought that the blackness that transformed everyone would effect him as well, had assumed himself, as Le Papillon, to be immune to the akuma's effects. Though Chevalier Noir was certainly powerful, and more than a match for the Heroes of Paris individually—especially Ladybug, though Chat Noir would have fallen to his power eventually—the fact that Papillon himself was nearly overwhelmed by the akuma was not acceptable. 

He would have to be more careful from now on about the skills he granted his supervillains so he wouldn't loose control again.

~*~

Ladybug lowered M D'Argencourt to the ground gently, Chat Noir landing with his pole beside her a half second later. Mayor Bourgeois, along with the other dazed people that had been turned into soldiers, had all been transported to the street when the cure was cast, but the akuma victim himself had remained at the hero's side.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, as always Paris thanks--” Bourgeois began, stepping forward to the heroes to be a politician.

However, Ladybug cut him off with a glare. “Don't even start! You aren't going to use me to boost your popularity! I don't endorse people who would abandon a class full of collège kids—kids that wouldn't even be there if _you_ weren't pulling some publicity stunt—to save your own sorry hide! I am a superhero, I am here to fight Papillon and protect the citizens, I am not here to be used by the likes of people such as you to make them look good! I am not here to attend parties and get bought like some billboard to further whatever ends the highest bidder cares to shell out for, and I _most certainly_ am not going to be attending that gala of yours!”

“Eeeeh? You're not?” Chat Noir asked, tone somewhere between a plead and disappointment.

Ladybug turned on her partner incredulously. “What, and you are?!”

“Well, no,” he admitted, looking slightly uneasy. “I already had prior engagements that night, but I was intending to sneak away for a bit to come support you. I mean, if you were going. And... I was looking forward to dancing with you. If you were okay with that.” 

He looked more unsure and nervous, speaking of his plans for the evening, now that she had stated she didn't intend on going. Now that they were surrounded by prying eyes and ears and any rejection from her wouldn't be so easily forgotten about later. “Well, you won't have to worry about getting away. You can attend the prior engagement without feeling guilty. Just take care of what you're supposed to do.”

Her earrings beeped their one-minute warning, his echoing three minutes a moment after. “Uh, it is time for me to go, someone’s waiting for me,” she excused, tossing her yo-yo to grab the top of the City Hall.

“Of course, Milady. Until next time,” Chat Noir said, bowing gentlemanly to her, low at the waist. 

Ladybug let herself back in the window she had left unlocked around the back of the building, calling off her transformation once she was safely inside. She noticed all the furniture had been returned to where it was before as she opened the door and headed back down the main steps to where her classmates were gathered.

“There you are!” Alya called, running up to hug Marinette when she spotted her. The other students of the class, and even a few of the staff that had been caught up in the event gathered around to make sure she was alright.

“It seems that you hid, eh?” Chloé sneered as she tried to make Marinette look bad.

“You are soooo funny, Chloé. I was going around making sure everyone was safe by locking doors and windows until those knights broke in,” Marinette argued back. “Now that everything is over, I’d like you to give me back what’s mine.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about, at all- Ahh!” Chloé tried to bluff before Sabrina shoved her out of the way.

The poor red-head girl stepped forward, presenting the box-encased hand with pleading eyes. “Yes please, take it back!” Marinette gently placed a calming hand on Sabrina's shoulders, manoeuvring her around so that they stood on the same step. Then, producing a gold key from around her neck, the blunette undid the lock, freeing the other girl's hand who pulled away as though she never wanted to see that box again. “Oh! Thanks~!”

“Chloé, anything to say?” Alya questioned, her phone out and pointed at the blond.

“What a bunch of nonsense, I did not steal her diary and I am scandalized of being accused at all! And how dare you be taking pictures of me again without my permission?!” Chloé snapped.

“That’s funny, yes? How you knew that my diary was inside the box?” Marinette countered, unwilling to let Chloé change the topic to attacking someone else. Their classmates gasped as Marinette showed off the closed book to prove Chloé was telling the truth about the contents.

“Uhhh... it was Sabrina who said it to me, it was all her idea!” Chloé tried to insist, grabbing her lackey and shoving her into the middle of the mob.

“That is really uncool,” Nino called out.

“Well I think that since no one will vote now for Chloé, you’re our new rep,” the blogger stated, coming up and throwing an arm around Marinette's shoulders.

“Uhhh... not so fast Alya,” the Asian girl tried to head her off.

Chloé forced a superior laugh when she heard this. “Look at her, she has already changed her mind, we can’t count on her.”

“That’s not true!” Marinette argued, fists clenched at her sides. “All I'm saying is that I want a proper election, where people are actually given the chance to vote for the person they think is best suited for the job, rather than have someone else make the decision regardless of everyone's input! That's the importance of a system like this, anyway: that everyone gets an equal say and the choices on how everyone lives their lives are in the hands of the people actually living them. And no choice is more important than who's voice you trust to speak for you.”

There was a general cheer of appreciation for Marinette's desire to stick to democracy in the face of a dictator akuma they had just been faced with as the class split up and started heading home, tired after such long event and eager to check in with parents and other friends who were likely worried about them. Alya slung her arm around Marinette's shoulder as the Martiniquan Creole girl babbled on about ratings and page views and cute, heroic boys with power sets she would have to gather lots of footage of in order to deduce. Marinette just quietly listened as they walked off into the sunset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember when I was a teen how it felt like no body older understood what it was to be a teenager in the early 2000's. They didn't understand the technology, they didn't understand internet culture, the idea of cyber bullying wasn't even really a coined term. Cellphones were just becoming a thing that every teen had with people still worrying about them causing cancer, walking around with headphones on listening to music everywhere was something a lot harder to do without MP3 players. We faced a world so much bigger and faster than anything our parents could comprehend having to deal with at our age that they couldn't relate. Now that I'm older and see teens around me saying similar things I think it's a natural feeling with some truth behind it. It's not that I dislike Tikki, or even that Marinette does, just that she's a teen feeling like no one can understand her because SHE doesn't even fully understand her.
> 
> I also don't dislike Alya, though she does have the habit of dismissing Marinette's feelings and concerns. But a big part of that is just because she's only 13 and not as socially aware as she could be. She's flawed, like everyone else in this story. She's so outgoing and loud and bold that a quiet, timid, yielding person like Marinette ends up steamrolled until they both learn to change enough to meet in the middle where they're both more healthy.
> 
> Chloe also just sort of hijacked sections of this story. But I did still manage to hopefully show the beginnings of Marinette's rise to popularity. Adrien paid special attention to those that paid special attention to Marinette, who also had the second most popular girl standing up for her. The knowledge that being nice to her got Adrien's attention made it so every fangirl of his and every social climber was suddenly tripping over themselves to compliment her just to get into his good graces. It's not REALLY about her yet, but it will get there in time.
> 
> I also hope people liked my little insight into Nathaniel's mind. I wanted to show his crush on Marinette in the Evillistrator episode didn't come from no where and why he kept his distance until and after now. His feelings were honest, but he felt he needed to grow as a person before he was ready to act on them. 
> 
> Tikki trying to push Marinette to be Ladybug more is because ze is sensing things getting too out of balance between hirself and Plagg. More on that subject in later chapters, though. And on the matter of things that will be addressed later, I had to cut a whole scene dealing with the after-effects of the Chronogirl even from Marinette's point of view, which will be circled back around on in the original chapter I have planned for up next, as well as following up on Adrien noticing how many students from their school are being targeted. It will be Adrien's time to shine as the predominant character focused on in the chapter. This chapter here, while still focusing on him quite a bit, was more to showcase how different his and Ladybug's contributions are, with Marinette's job being the one who stands back and plans and heals while his is to get right up front and personal with every problem. Next chapter we showcase his brain a bit more.
> 
> Also I swapped out XY for Jagged Stone because Jagged hasn't moved to Paris yet and as Bob Roth's son, XY probably grew up moving in the same circles as Chloe and Adrien--though likely a good 5 years older--so it wouldn't be surprising for them to know each other and him to be willing to help her out to both boost his own popularity and for whatever favours with the mayor's family.
> 
> You also get to see the birth of the Chat Noir fanclub, him basically being the hero the rebels are free to like. Something like Wolverine for Marvel fans versus Ladybug who's more like Superman personality-wise as far as the public is concerned. The rightious, law-abiding, always-does-the-right-thing moral compass character while Chat is the cool, rebellious, don't-take-no-shit-from-nobody heavy hitter who still has a heart of gold. At least, that's what the public perception of them is.
> 
> But yes, if people want to see the next chapter, an OC akuma story focusing primarily on AdriChat, feel free to drop me a comment. Engaging in me as the author will draw my attention back to this story and encourage me to write more. This whole second half of this chapter alone was written on one person engaging me in conversation.


	10. OC Akuma: OMyTaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir begins his investigation into the potential connection between his college and Le Papillon. Meanwhile, Chloe's helping him as Adrien to deal with a potential stalker fan, only for the girl in question to be added to the list of akuma.
> 
> \-----
> 
> ...she listened to the other end of the phone line ring for a bit before cutting to voicemail. Well, so Nathalie wanted to ignore her, did she? She could deal with that, but she'd deal with the potential stalker first.
> 
> Having dragged Mireille into the bathroom, Chloé ensured no one was around before turning on the blunette girl. “Look, this is your one and only warning! If you don't back off Adrichou now, I _will_ make your life a living hell from now until the day you die, got it?” Chloé threatened.
> 
> “Wh-wha...?” Mireille stuttered out.
> 
> Chloe's hand slammed into the wall by Mireille's head and loomed closer. “Only. Warning,” she growled. “You do anything like what you did outside just now and I. Will. Ruin. You!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: there is a very poorly written, small attempt at cyber bullying in this chapter. If this is something that bothers you, skip the scene in which Mireille is in her bedroom. All you need to know about it is that she is bullied, and then akumatized.**
> 
> Also, for those of you who do not know, "otaku" is Japanese for an obsessive fan. Like the sort of fan that would bankrupt themselves to have more of what they're into. I took the word and blended it with "Oh My God!" to get the cult-like obsessive semi-religious coded akuma. Not to put Christianity down, it's just when you think of a religious figure in the west, most people think of Christian imagery.
> 
> Also, everything from this chapter was originally intended to be elsewhere in this story except for the akuma were meant to show up elsewhere in this story. The investigation by Chat and the class elections were cut from the end of the last chapter. All the stuff about Adrien investigating was sprinkled into the upcoming chapters. The whole thing with the fanclub forming was supposed to come up in December, and Mireille's stuff was supposed to be post-Dark Cupid. But it all got moved to here to give the world this Adrien-centric chapter.
> 
> And then Chloe decided she had to be involved and upped the word count by a few thousand. She was really only supposed to give her speech and antagonize Mireille and then the bit at the gala. Oh well, I guess this is now also a chapter exploring her relationship with Adrien.

Adrien sat in his room, alone other than the little black cat kwami that hovered beside the mini-fridge. His cellphone had been taken from him, as well as the power cords to both his television and computer, as punishment for disrupting his schedule for an akuma attack. He had told Nathalie that when his fencing instructor had been akumatized he had hid in a classroom and not come out until Alya's livestream to her blog showed everything was safe. But because le Gorille had been one of the targets, it took the man a good twenty minutes to come back and pick him up.

Yet despite the fact he had been deliberately informed that he was not to go anywhere without le Gorille escorting him, he still was blamed for not getting home on time. His father was in a right awful mood that left Nathalie saying it would be better if she were the one to pass the punishment on and Adrien just knew he was in for a rough weekend. He only just managed to convince Nathalie not to cancel his school tomorrow, in exchange for no television, and the gala Saturday was too big an event for him not to show. He'd have to brainstorm with Chloé some way to convince them to not cancel their weekly hang out time as well.

But right now... right now he had more pressing concerns. Nino, Alya, Ivan, Aurore, Alix, M D'Argencourt... what was the connection? Why, out of everyone in Paris, was it them that were akumatized? Knightowl's mystery books always said that serial attacks had some connecting thread running through all of the victims. Alya had suggested bullying, after that waitress from the Eiffel Tower got targeted, and while everyone else could sort of be fit into that label alright, Alix's case really couldn't. Not to mention, Collège Françoise Dupont couldn't be the only place in all of Paris to have a bullying problem. 

In fact the only people to actually get akumatized at the collège were Ivan and M D'Argencourt. But wasn't it also too much in that case to call it a coincidence that six out of the seven akuma were from there? Maybe two or three, but this was just too much. So that still left that odd obsession with Collège Françoise Dupont that needed explaining. But then what was the waitress's connection? Was she an old student at the school or something? Did they... did they perhaps all know Le Papillon in their daily lives and that was why he was targeting these specific people? Maybe a teacher, or a janitor, or something, some member of staff that saw the children day after day and knew what would cause them to accept akumatization? Or, maybe, someone who worked somewhere they all frequented and one of the others was the odd-victim out?

He knew Nino and Ivan were friends when he wasn't around, and Alya and Aurore were both sort of in the same field of work, and Nino sort of too, though he wanted to be on the other side of the camera... but Alix? The adults? There were too many questions, too many possibilities, and not enough answers. He knew there was a connection there, he could practically feel it in his bones, he just didn't know what it was. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to get any answers just sitting around in his room all night.

“Plagg, transform moi!” he called to the little glutton he shared his living space with, letting the green light wash over him, leaving a crackling energy behind, curling through his limbs, just under his skin, mounting with every heartbeat. He went to his windowsill and opened the window on the end, just enough that he could slip out, and leapt for the wall that surrounded his father's estate. As his foot left the sill he felt it, a zap through his body like discharging static and a moment later his face was planting into the wall, centimetres shy of where he should have been, his body crumpled under the force of the impact and somehow he ended up flipping over the wall and landing on the ground outside with a jarring thump right on his tailbone. 

Not that any of it hurt, he couldn't feel pain in this form, or maybe it just couldn't be inflicted. But how he had hit the wall like that shouldn't be physically possible. It wasn't even the first time today that he had felt that zap followed by something happening that would have hurt him if he wasn't impervious to physical damage anymore. Earlier had been when he'd been knocked into that produce truck, which had been a lucky shot on the halberder's side, but to miss such a simple jump was just plain... “Oh, right. Cursed with bad luck...”

He got back to his feet, glancing up to decide which roof he should move to... and froze. He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life. His brain had finally started coming to terms with the eighth colour he could smell, not that he could describe it or even explain it, it didn't belong on the light spectrum after all, but this... He vaulted quickly to the tallest roof around just so he could better see. The sky was alive! A million-billion points of light glittering above him in that eighth colour, a shimmering swath streaked across the sky that his mind provided could only be the Milky Way. Out and away distant galaxies gleamed like stars of their own. 

Above him, ever outward, he could see it all for the first time in his life! And it was breathtakingly beautiful, surely the only sight in existence even more beautiful than his Lady. All he could do was stand in slack-mouthed awe, but at that same moment he was so very small and all alone. No one else could see what he saw, something his talentless hands could never recreate. But it felt so lonely knowing even if he got someone else to look up there with him, they wouldn't see the same thing he did. Yet he knew... he knew when he saw that sight hanging above him like that, there was nothing in his whole life that he wanted to do more than spend forever staring at the stars.

He wanted to share this sight with the world, wanted everyone to know how beautiful the sky really was, wanted to know more and see everything and it was all so big and amazing! He didn't even feel the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes and dribbling down his face, all he could do was stare in wonder. 

Finally, after what had to have been a good ten minutes at least, he managed to pull himself together again enough to start making his way towards the school. Though he still looked up every few seconds, Chat knew he had work to do. His Lady had said that after Le Papillon was defeated she would (maybe) finally tell him her secret identity. Then he could get to know her for real, the girl under the mask, and he could put everything he had into winning her heart and they could live happily ever after. But he had to put the work in first.

And then wouldn't she be impressed, when he beat that butterfly-wearing jerk black and blue and dropped his body at her feet as a prize! She would call him her hero, throw her arms around his neck and give him a kiss on the cheek. Then he'd put his arms around her waist, tell her that he loves her for the first time, and she'd beam up at him with the brightest smile. He'd dip her gently and kiss her lips just like in the movies, and she'd be so in love with him back that she'd tell him who she was and they'd run away to somewhere tropical together right then and there! Then they'd buy a house and get married and he'd work for NASA or something looking at the stars all night and she'd do whatever it is she dreamed of doing one day and...

His feet touched down on the roof of the school, and he put aside his daydreams of a happy future. He could focus on that later tonight, good dreams that would leave him feeling happy come morning. For now, it was time to get to work. The building was dark, no lights on anywhere at this hour, but he didn't need them as he dropped down into the empty courtyard and let his eyes take in everything around him. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, just anything that seemed out of place. He walked to the principle's office first, hoping maybe there would be some records he could find somewhere on someone that might give him a hint.

The door was easy to pick with his claws, and soon he was in. He tried the computer first off chance, but it was of course password protected and he had no clue what M Damocles might choose for it. He tried the drawers on the off chance the password was there, like it sometimes was in video games, but other than a couple of Knightowl comic issues from a good thirty years ago, nothing seemed out of place. He idly flipped through one of them—the debut issue of Panthera, Knightowl's greatest enemy turned love interest—to make sure there wasn't anything hidden inside, but put it back when he figured he was likely being too video game-like now.

Instead he turned to the filing cabinets. These were more helpful, as they held the student records inside. Only the current students, so there was no telling if the waitress had any relation to the collège in the past, sadly, but he found Aurore's folder, as well as all of his classmates and sat down at the desk to peruse their files carefully. He felt a bit intrusive doing this, but it was for a good cause and he knew they would forgive him if they knew what he was trying to do. But after twenty minutes of comparing and contrasting, there didn't seem to be any connection he could form. And that buzzing energy was building to a fever pitch again. 

Pulling out his baton, he opened it up and snapped a photo of each victim's home address just in case. He'd go snoop around where they lived if he really couldn't find anything on Papillon around the school. He then packed them all back up and returned them to their alphabetical locations in the drawers before deciding he'd best deal with this curse now in a somewhat controlled fashion rather than risk it getting in the way and breaking something later. His mind made up, he went out of the office and jumped up on the railing that went around the second floor walkway. Once he was balancing precariously, he pulled his baton out and split it in two and began trying to figure out how to juggle just to tempt fate even further. 

Sure enough, not two minutes later he felt the zap, got hit in the face twice by batons, and then ended up losing his balance and landing on the ground floor on his head. He sighed as he picked himself up, undamaged, and headed for the library to see if he could find anything like old yearbooks or something to search for the waitress. _What had been her real name again?_ He tried to remember. Something relatively common for her age, and started with an 'e'. Emma? Elly? Edith? No, that was too old... Elly sounded close, but wasn't quite right. By the time he reached the library, though, and clawed his way in, he had remembered. She had been named Élodie. Élodie something, but he had never bothered to ask her family name, thinking it would be rude and none of his business at the time.

Well, if worse came to worse, he could always hunt her down at work. Surely she would likely answer a few questions for Chat Noir, especially to help him take down a terrorist. She had a son, after all, young enough to still call her over nightmares. Surely she'd not want him to grow up under a terrorist's threat. 

He searched the library over, but found no sign of any yearbooks. With a sigh he left, feeling the night was a bust. But he couldn't give up yet. He had to come away from this with something. Having nothing else for the moment, he tried to mentally walk through the events earlier that day that had lead up to M D'Argencourt's akumatization. From what he remembered, the first problem arose about half an hour before the end of his fencing lesson, so around 4:30 PM? The reporter had come in on the private lesson to harass him and he had of course gotten very angry because not only were they filming him without permission and asking him rude questions, but Adrien had been there as well, and he had been showing him a secret technique that only students of the fencing school were supposed to know about. But the drama teacher and le Gorille had chased them off and he had calmed down. 

Then it had been five o'clock and Adrien had gone to get changed. When he had come back they told him to send le Gorille around to the side and M D'Argencourt exited from the front doors. Chat vaulted over the roof and down onto the front steps to go through the actions himself. He had walked down the steps, been accosted by the reporter again and tried to walk away. He'd walked into the pillar—Chat stopped before the poster of his Oncle—then cut it up with his foil before standing there a moment. Then the akuma had come from... behind? Chat turned, his eyes gazing out at the city behind him.

But that had been extremely fast for Le Papillon to send an akuma out after him, from the steps to this point. So unless Papillon was somewhere within the school at the time, the butterfly reaching him would have been especially fast. Or it had been sent out in retaliation to the first time he had gotten angry and lost it's target maybe once he had calmed down? If that was the case, and it had only landed over there until it felt it's target again, was that even the direction it had come from? He couldn't be sure. All he could guess was that the akuma had a maximum of forty minutes to reach M D'Argencourt. So, a forty minute radius around Collège Françoise Dupont, skewed directionally by where the akuma came from? 

But how fast could an akuma fly? He'd need to know for him to be able to say where his search parameters were. Damn. And he had thought for a moment he might have been getting somewhere. He'd have to look up butterfly flight speeds when he got access to the internet again, and then likely double it just to be on the safe side before he went about figuring a search radius. But something was better than absolutely nothing, though it was clear as day this wasn't going to go as smoothly or quickly as he would have liked. Oh well, he could impress his Lady later rather than sooner then. For now he had gained as much as he was likely going to for the night and so decided the next best plan would be to go home and get the best night sleep he could so he'd be fit and alert to see what he could uncover as Adrien Agreste.

~*~

Marinette jerked awake panting, the image of Chat Noir frozen and fading still plastered behind her eyelids every time she blinked. That was the third time since the Chronogirl fight last weekend that she'd had that dream, the feeling of being totally alone and an utter failure still palpable as she tried to swallow her heart from where it had climbed to the back of her throat. She didn't understand. _She_ had been successful, _her_ Chat had never been touched by either Chronogirl. So why was she still being haunted by nightmares of it?

“Tikki?” the blunette called, stirring the red kwami from hir slumber. 

“Mmm? Marinette? It's only dawn, why are you up?” Tikki asked, drifting up to meet Marinette in the eye, though one of hir eyes were almost shut, and the other half lidded and ze kept hovering back and forth as if not completely able to control hir flight.

“Why do I keep having nightmares about the Chronogirl fight?” Marinette jumped right to the chase.

“Well, it was a hard akuma...” Tikki began.

“Why do I keep having nightmares about Chat being caught and loosing completely?” Marinette clarified more precisely.

Tikki sighed. “Well, I would say nightmares are your subconscious mind playing on your fears and insecurities, but...”

“But?” the teen girl pressed.

“Look, time isn't my element, so I don't really understand it fully, but I do know some basics. You pick things up after a few billion years of working with someone, you know? Anyway, Fluff always said that travelling within one's own timeline has issues. Just like no two atoms can occupy the same space, no two consciences can occupy the same timeline. If you try, there's side-effects.”

“But Tikki, there's loads of different conscious people walking around!”

Tikki just shook hir head. “But they're not in the same timeline. I'm sorry, I can only use Fluff's words because only Fluff actually understands it, but from what I gather it basically means there can't be two versions of the same person walking around at once. Each... person is represented by a timeline, a series of events they're destined to take or not take or whatever. Timelines interconnect, but each one is unique to the person living it. But trying to move back or forward along that line...”

“O-okay. I don't really get it but I'm also sort of following. Two of me weren't supposed to exist at once. Got it. So now what's happened to me because this golden rule was broken?” Marinette asked, trying to move the conversation on to other topics.

“Well, basically it causes the two consciences to... leak into each other? You were lucky the other Ladybug was only a few minutes into the future so it wasn't so bad for you, you likely don't even realize most of what you got from her, but if it had been a longer amount of time you would have felt it more. Confusion, disorientation, an inability to recall facts because you keep remembering things differently depending on what the other you had experienced. It gets worse when the two consciousnesses are physically close together, but so long as they're both at the same point in the timeline the problems will persist. You're having nightmares because what you absorbed from the other Ladybug was traumatic and now your mind has to deal with it so it can heal.”

Marinette sighed, guessing that she likely was still a ways away from being done with the nightmares then.

~*~

Mireille walked down the street with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. At the rate she was going, she'd be early for school by a good thirty minutes, but that just meant she had time to gush with her friends about the love of her life, Adrien. Talk about a perfect boy, he was rich enough to spoil a girlfriend silly, and popular as he was kind. Not to mention every part of him was eye-candy like Mireille couldn't even!

Since the start of the school year she had managed to get so very close to him. She had seen it since day one, the way he looked at her a little longer than others, like she was just so beautiful to him he couldn't take his eyes off her. He had made it a point to congratulate her after every single time she won the KIDZ+ competitions, telling her how great he thought she was. It was clear he was crushing on her back and just hadn't gotten the nerve to approach her about it yet. 

But that was okay, being a little shy in a boy was a cute thing, and it proved he wasn't pushy or entitled. She had thought for a bit that Adrien had been trying to let her down gently when she was the only fan to give him a birthday present, but no, it had turned out he really had been extremely busy that weekend, and he had suggested they try another time! That was proof he liked her, if that harpy he called a childhood friend hadn't gotten in the way he might have even been able to find a date and time he could see her.

But lately... lately his other fans had been pulling ahead, Aurore especially. This meant Mireille had to up her game if she wanted to keep his attention all on her. She sighed. Once they were official, a lot of the other fans would back off because he was taken and they'd realize how out of their league her boyfriend really was. But for now, while they were still in the will-they-wont-they phase, his other fans were desperate to make any move they could. That was why she was making her move now, to make them official. 

It had been noticed by another of his fans in her class, Paige Segal, that Adrien seemed to really like cheese. He almost always had some Camembert on him at lunch time, though no one had seen him eat it yet. But why else would he carry a few wedges in his bag near constantly? So she had made him a small cheese cake, put in a hand-made blue box like that scarf he always wore and wrapped in a Ladybug-themed ribbon because he liked talking to that one blogger about her so much. It was noted he probably had a bit of a celebrity crush on the Parisian heroine, so a number of his fans who had long enough hair had taken to wearing it in pigtails, and those that couldn't—like Mireille—often wore red or polka-dotted designs. 

Today, Mireille was in a red blouse with a white and black polka-dotted skirt and black leggings to fight the chilly October morning air. She had ensured her hair and makeup were killer because today... today was the day she'd confess to Adrien Agreste and make them official. Oh, she couldn't wait! All her dreams were coming true at last, she had a present and a love letter written just for him! 

She rounded the second to last corner to school and there he was. Well, not literally him, but an advertisement for the Gabriel fall line had been put up on the column outside of their collège at some point since yesterday. The coat he was modelling was a long dark grey one with wooden buttons, but that wasn't what Mireille was looking at. It was his face, she had never seen a picture of him with that sort of expression before, like he was holding in laughter about an inside joke he was sharing just with her. He was gorgeous, stunning, alluring. She found herself staring with her heart hammering away in her chest. 

Would he look at her like this after she confessed? Like they had a secret that they were keeping from the whole world, yet he wanted to share with everyone at the same time? Was he her secret? “Oh, Adrien...” she sighed, imagining him pulling her into his chest, wrapping his large coat around her to keep her warm on such a cold day. He would lower his head slowly, tantalizingly, until his lips met hers in a reverent kiss. And she'd lean into him, wrapping her arms around his middle as he held her around hers, holding her up, holding her to him, holding her like he never intended to let go...

~*~

Adrien sat in the back of le Gorille's silver car, watching out the window without actually seeing. His mind was lost in thought still, about the akuma problem and how he could get to the bottom of it. He had decided he needed more information about the victims, things he wouldn't find in some report somewhere. Things about their social circles and where they spent their time outside of school. Where their siblings went to school, what their parents did for work, every angle that he could manage to find until he uncovered what linked everyone together.

Nino and Alya were easy enough to get dirt on, they were his friends and would share their lives with him as easily as he could ask. Aurore as well seemed to be a very nice and friendly girl, though she was in a different homeroom class so that made getting a moment to talk to her difficult. But Ivan and Alix? They weren't his friends and so getting them to talk to him might be a lot harder. Should he just approach them as Chat Noir instead? 

His musings were cut off when he noticed something strange and out of place. Mireille, one of the prettier girls at school in his opinion—yes, Chloé, he was fully aware he had a type, thank you very much—was hugging the ad column outside their school with a dazed look on her face and her cheeks tinted red. It only took him a moment to notice that the ad she was hugging was from his photo shoot at the park two weeks ago. If he wasn't mistaken it was probably the coat one where he had been trying not to laugh at some of the faces Alya had been making at Vincent over the things he said. Every time he had mentioned something about mama's spaghetti, her face had gotten a little more incredulous, and it had been hilarious.

This, however.... this was just a little creepy. Not that he wasn't used to fans, but he was _used to fans_ and had been forced to hide behind le Gorille to avoid his fair share of obsessive stalker ones. Screaming mobs chasing him through the streets was one thing, but nothing scared him quite so much as a stalker fan. You never knew what one of those would do to feel like they were closer to you than anyone else, and he had his privacy invaded enough as it was.

It was strange though, he hadn't really gotten stalker vibes off Mireille before, she was generally a nice and sweet girl, thoughtful of him in ways others weren't even though they had not been all that close. But perhaps she had just not really reached that point with him yet, or perhaps she was better at hiding it than most. After all, if she was willing to act like that in public, who's to say what she would do in a private setting? Perhaps it would be best to put some distance between her and himself.

The car pulled to a stop and before he could get out, le Gorille reached back and pressed an old flip phone into Adrien's palm, eyes trained on the girl acting oddly out the window. The blond recognized it, of course, it had belonged to le Gorille years ago and now served as a means for Adrien to call for help when his own phone was confiscated. It didn't have internet access, barely had what people today would call a camera, but speed dial 1 was le Gorille, 2 was Nathalie, 3 was his father, and 4 was the police. “Thanks,” he said, slipping the device into his front pocket, feeling a little safer just for having it on him.

Nino greeted Adrien on the front steps as was their ritual, but today Adrien excused himself quickly, insisting he needed to talk to Chloé before class. He stepped up to his oldest friend and air kissed her cheeks in greeting. “Père was in a mood last night because I got stranded during the akuma attack and had to wait until le Gorille got turned back into himself and came to pick me up again. I barely managed to convince Nathalie to let me come today, had to give up my television for the weekend in exchange.”

“Oh, Adrichou! If I had known you were stranded, I'd have sent Jean Luke to fetch you! That way at least you wouldn't have gotten in trouble,” Chloé sympathized.

“Perhaps, you know Père doesn't want me going anywhere without le Gorille there to look after me,” Adrien admitted, hands clutching at the front of his shirt and eyes downcast.

Chloé latched herself to one of his arms and touched under her chin to remind him that he had an image to uphold, obediently his posture shifted at once. “Sabrina, go take our things to our seats,” the blond heiress ordered, handing Adrien's bag off to join her own in the red-head's arms.

“Yes, Chloé!” the glasses girl squeaked, running off to do as was bid of her while Chloé casually dragged him into an empty classroom. 

Once she was sure they hadn't drawn undue attention that would encourage eavesdroppers, and that the room was truly empty and the door securely shut and locked for good measure, she pushed him into a chair at the far end away from the door and asked, “What's wrong?”

“I...” Adrien began, then sighed. “I don't know if I'll be able to go out with you to the pet store this weekend with how Père is being...”

“I'll deal with it, what else?” Chloé more stated then asked. She knew more than just that was bothering him, he had been begging after all.

He was silent for a long moment, nervous, uneasy. She watched him, becoming more protective by the second, until he finally felt ready to talk. “Did-did you see that? Out front this morning?”

Chloé's brows furrowed. “No, what?”

“Oh, um, well... um... a-a new advertisement was put up out side of the school l-last night... one of mine? And-um-and uh, one-one of the girls from school here, Mireille? Well, she was... hugging it. In public. It was kind of...” he swallowed, Chloé already having moved forward to press his cheek into her chest. He shifted slightly, seeking the familiar thud of her heart in his ear to sooth him. He melted into her, as they could only do when they were alone and safe, and continued to talk knowing he wouldn't be judged. “It made me uncomfortable. I didn't like seeing her hugging a picture on the street of me like that, what would happen then if I were alone with her? Would she do something worse? Chlo, I-I want my first kiss to be with the girl I love, I don't want some crazy fangirl ruining all that on me!”

Chloé's hold tightened for a moment around him when he said that last line and she held him there for a second longer before pulling away. “Right,” she said, voice strained with a pain born of understanding and experience, even though her face was a neutral mask. “Right, don't worry about it, Adrichou. Just leave everything to me. Now get to class. Your-your other friends are waiting for you—even that Dupain-Cheng managed to make it here early today! I have some calls to make to Nathalie about our weekend and stuff, so don't you worry. I'll take care of everything, I promise,” she insisted, combing his hair back in place so it wasn't clear he had been nuzzling her chest and fussing over his expression. The last thing she did before unlocking the door was to catch his eye, tilt her head to the side and twirl a strand of her ponytail around one of her fingers. He instantly fell into an expression and posture of cute innocence, earning an approving nod from her as she opened the door and sent him out into the world by himself.

She followed him out, but wasn't interacting with him as they started in different directions. She was pulling out her phone and dialing for Nathalie, even as she intercepted the Asian girl from that TV show. Grabbing the girl by the front of her red blouse without even sparing her a glance she listened to the other end of the phone line ring for a bit before cutting to voicemail. Well, so Nathalie wanted to ignore her, did she? She could deal with that, but she'd deal with the potential stalker first.

Having dragged Mireille into the bathroom, Chloé ensured no one was around before turning on the blunette girl. “Look, this is your one and only warning! If you don't back off Adrichou now, I _will_ make your life a living hell from now until the day you die, got it?” Chloé threatened.

“Wh-wha...?” Mireille stuttered out.

Chloe's hand slammed into the wall by Mireille's head and loomed closer. “Only. Warning,” she growled. “You do anything like what you did outside just now and I. Will. Ruin. You!”

~*~

Adrien entered the room to sit down just as a nervous looking Juleka stepped cautiously up beside Marinette's desk. The blunette was flipping through flash cards, looking like she was working herself up into a panic before the goth girl interrupted her. “Um... you... are good at sewing, right?” the shy girl questioned, voice hardly audible the whole sentence long.

“Oh, um, yes?” Marinette squeaked, eyes a little more frantic than normal as she looked at the tall girl.

“This... it's the closest I have. Could you alter it to -mumble mumble- Chat Noir?” she asked, pulling a black sleeveless dress from a large plastic grocery bag she was carrying with her. “The pockets especially, I wouldn't know where to begin -mumble mumble mumble-. I also -mumble- green trim in here, if-if you think it would -mumble mumble-”

“I...” Marinette began, then took a breath and smiled. “Would you like sleeves added to it?” Juleka thought for a second, then shook her head no. “Okay, well, my commission rate is ten euros an hour, plus what ever costs for the materials. Because you seemed to have brought most of those yourself already, and it's just a simple altering job of putting in a few tucks, adding some pockets, and touching the whole thing up with some trim, I doubt it would take more than one or two hours. I do also charge by the minute, so I'd take the total amount of time I spent on the job and use that for the calculations of my cost. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

“Y-yes,” Juleka accepted.

Alya leaned over the back of Marinette's spot and grinned suggestively at Juleka. “Sooo... Chat Noir, eh?”

Juleka became a little flustered at Alya's tone and grin, but Adrien was merely flattered and feeling a little bashful at the idea that his alter ego had fans among his classmates. “He was _really cool_ fighting that army of akuma yesterday all by himself. I... I just want to show my support for him, he did save all our lives, after all,” she managed to voice.

“Aww, girl! You got a crush on him!” Alya cooed, causing Juleka to flush deep red and shoot a worried look over her shoulder to where Rose was arranging things in her scrapbook for some reason.

“Alya!” Marinette scolded. “Don't be insensitive! You can appreciate someone saving your life without falling in love with them, and not everybody enjoys being teased!”

Alya blinked in surprise, realizing she may have gone too far in her friendly banter. “Oh, uh, right. Sorry, Juleka, I really didn't mean anything by it. It's cool if you like Chat Noir, or if you're only a fan of his, that is fine too...”

Juleka slunk away looking embarrassed, but hadn't taken her clothes back so Marinette supposed the commission was still on. She'd do the work anyway, and if she ended up out on ten or so euro she decided it wasn't the end of the world. However, the atmosphere within their quartet was still a little tense until Adrien cleared his throat. “Sooo... has anyone heard of any strange rumours or ghost stories around the school?”

“Ghost stories?” Nino echoed, both confused and a little baffled at the obvious change in subject. He had thought for sure if anything, his blond friend would have ran with the subject of superheroes to go off on another tangent with Alya about yesterday's akuma or the League of Heroes' latest exploits. Something about mind-control chips in dolls being sold over in the States being used to make an army of brainwashed children, if the snippets Nino had picked up from his dad watching the news was anything to go by.

“Well, yeah! It's October now, so I was kind of wanting to get into the Halloween mood, you know? And well, in the shows and movies and stuff, schools always have a couple of scary rumours going around about stairwells that disappear, or corridors that go places that shouldn't exist if you walk down them backwards at night, or weird creepy figures that watch from the shadows but vanish when you go to look at them with more than the corner of your eye,” he rattled off as examples, but at the other three's surprised looks, he sank, face flushing in embarrassment. “I-is that... not really what it's like in school?”

At once the other three jumped to reassure him. “N-no, no!” was all Marinette managed to squeak out that was intelligible, the other two a little more vocal.

“I'm sure there's schools like that out there! And-um-here! I mean, I haven't heard anything yet, but like you said, Holloween's coming soon so I'm sure if we ask around we'll be able to hear of some!”Alya tried.

“I don't know anything like hidden corridors or anything, but, uh, I think I remember hearing something about the science wing having burned down about twenty years ago, so maybe there's something ghost-like about that?” Nino offered, scratching at the back of his neck while Marinette nodded vigorously and tried to keep her nervous squeaking to a minimum. 

Chloé sauntered in a moment later, finishing up typing something on her phone as she slipped easily into her seat without looking up. She hit her final button and sat back immediately as though waiting expectantly for something. A moment later, Alya's phone dinged that she had a message. She looked at it and blinked before turning it to Adrien with a raised eyebrow. It was opened to her Instagram page.

 **theofficialChloébourgeois** Guess who's got some inside deets about some juicy secrets of @adrienagrestebrand? Tune in at noon when I go live with some toe-curling gossip #BestFriendRights

Adrien groaned and let his head hit the table. “Chlo, this is not how you get Nathalie to call you back...”

“Sure it is,” Chloé responded confidently. Thirty seconds later, her phone rang. “Told you!” she announced before answering on the third ring. “Nathalie, hi! What a pleasant surprise. I'm glad you managed to get back to me so quickly...” she said pleasantly, eyeing her manicured fingers. “Oh, I'm sure. Yes, people have very important business meetings at 7:30AM all the time.” A pause. “Oh, well, I wonder... I do have so very many secrets I know about my Adrichou and his father's brand...” Another pause. “Well I would tell you right now, but I'm sitting in the middle of my classroom! You know, with that one blogger girl only a few seats away, as well as the girl who babysits for Nadja Chamack... I'd hate to loose my ratings because one of them got the secret out first. If they did, I'd just have to go and tell an even bigger and juicier secret to get the views back, and I'm sure no body wants that...” A longer pause this time. “Well, if I'm not to see my Adrichou all weekend, I must do _something_ to keep myself entertained.” Another pause. “But galas are always so stuffy and boring. I don't want my Adrichou being stuffy and boring, I want him being my Adrichou!” she demanded. There was another long pause and Chloé was back to smiling. “Really? That's wonderful! And seeing as you already cleared his schedule for tomorrow, I'll just keep him until it's time for the gala! Bye!” she hung up without giving Nathalie time to say anything.

Turning to the boy across the hall from her smugly, she said “Jean Paul will be picking you up at 10:00AM sharp.”

“What were you going to write about me if she didn't give in to your threat?” was all he replied with.

“The truth. That you're being unfairly punished for doing as you were told and waiting for le Gorille to pick you up, rather than risk the streets during an akuma attack,” was her reply.

His other three friends looked confused and concerned by this, but only Alya asked, “Le Gorille?”

“My bodyguard,” Adrien supplied over his shoulder. “Chloé named him when we were six.”

“What do you want me to write?” Chloé asked after a few seconds.

Adrien shrugged. “I don't know, something that won't set Père off again...” Chloé just nodded as she fiddled with a strand of hair, wrapping it around her finger.

It was then the bell rang and Mlle Bustier called the class to order. “Alright class, as you all know today is the day where we finally cast our votes for the new class representative! So before that would each of you step up here to give your speech about your platform so everyone knows what your stances are?” 

Chloé and Marinette did as asked, Chloé with her hands free and Marinette with a small stack of note cards. Chloé went first when Mlle Bustier asked for a volunteer. “As you all know, I've been class representative every year since the start of école. I have a very clear history of doing the job successfully. I have never failed you in setting up your little get togethers, and ensuring everyone is delegated to their proper tasks! I am a natural born leader who knows how to decide what's best for you all! Not to mention I've got the money and connections to do things for you like arrange for free tickets for the whole class to XY's next concert. So why break something that doesn't need fixing, vote for me and you know you're voting for success and security!”

The class clapped politely as Mlle Bustier said, “Thank you, Chloé, now Marinette, would you like to present your platform now?”

“I... yes, um...” Marinette tried to begin, staring up at everyone past her note cards. She could see their judgmental looks, just knew they were waiting for her to screw up and fail so they could all laugh at her again, and--

Alya beamed at her, giving her a pair of thumbs up in encouragement. Adrien smiled at her with all the patience and understanding in the world. 

That's right, she had people who had never done anything but stand beside her and support her when she needed it. And when she forced herself to look again, Nino was watching her with curiosity. Ivan was calmly waiting to hear her out. Mylène was smiling shyly at her. Rose looked almost as excited about this as Alya did. Nathaniel wasn't even hunched over his notebook. 

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to pretend Chat Noir was sitting in one of the empty spots behind her, looking at her with the eyes that said he trusted her judgment implicitly. Pretend that she was wearing her mask and that an akuma was ahead of her that she had to beat with her words instead of her actions. She squared her shoulders, opened her eyes, and stared at the far wall where she pictured the akuma standing. 

“I think we all agree it's time for a change. I opened my ears and listened to you all, the things you're lacking, the things you want. You all had so many wonderful ideas that would make everyone's lives so much better if we could implement them. The seats are hard and uncomfortable to be sitting on all day, they cut off circulation and that can help make people feel tired, not to mention promote the development of varicose veins. But if we could take some time in art class and personalize some cushions then it would alleviate the problem. And setting aside dedicated time slots for anti-akuma lessons would surely help the mental health of us all, not only now but teach us useful stress management techniques that can prevent all sorts of health issues in the long run. And not only helping out our own class, but reaching out into the community with volunteer work for charities that will look wonderful on our resumes. 

“I know how to listen and the work doesn’t scare me at all. I will not promise you things I cannot deliver, and even so I might not be able to do all you want me to. But I’m resourceful and I keep my word. I understand that being the class rep is a big responsibility, but I believe in the difference that one person can make and more importantly, I believe in my qualities. So, for the elections, please vote for me. Thank you.”

The class clapped again, a little more enthusiastically for some of them, until Mlle Bustier called everyone to order. “Alright, class! You've heard their campaign speeches, so now it is time to decide on the new class representative. All in favour of Chloé?” Kim, Max, and Sabrina raised their hands. “I see, well then, it seems that Marinette will be this year's class representative by majority vote! Congratulations, Marinette. You have until lunch on Monday to give me the name of your vice-representative.”

Finally allowed to sit back down, Marinette let out a heavy breath. “You did it, girl! Congrats!” Alya squealed, hugging Marinette to her rather than paying attention as Mlle Bustier started the day's lesson.

“Thanks, Alya,” Marinette said, keeping her voice low. “But as for vice-representative, would you be willing? There's no one I'd want to work with more than you.”

“No one? Not even a certain Sunshine Child?” Alya purred teasingly in Marinette's ear.

The blunette squeaked, cheeks flushed crimson. “I-I-he... to bus... work!” she managed to breath out.

Alya snickered, “No worries, girl, I got your back.”

~*~

Morning literature ended five minutes early because of them getting to the end of the chapter and Mlle Bustier deciding they needn't start the next one with so little time before they had to switch subjects. As such, the students were allowed to relax and socialize. Usually when they ended up in this situation, Adrien would have talked to Nino about movies, or Alya about superheroes and the latest article she was writing for the Ladyblogg, or struck up a conversation across the isle with Chloé about whatever she felt like talking at him about.

But today... Today he had a mission, one that wouldn't progress at all if he didn't take the initiative. This was for his Lady, after all. So they could be together, so he could introduce her to Chloé like he promised, so she could be the most important thing in his life publicly as well as privately. And for all this to happen, he'd have to get a little out of his comfort zone. So, taking a deep breath, he pushed himself to his feet, put on his best friendly innocent smile, and approached the tallest boy of the room. “Hi,” he greeted Ivan.

The larger boy blinked at the unexpected approach. “Hi? Do you want something?”

Adrien shrugged, putting on the face Vincent called 'spilled spaghetti', “No, not particularly... You're friends with Nino, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Ivan asked, leaning back in his seat and still on the defensive.

“I... feel a little bad that Nino has to choose which friends he'll hang out with all the time. So, I figured if I became your friends too...?” he let the sentence hang, knowing from his father and Nathalie's instructions that the more conclusions you let someone else make, the more they would feel it was natural to agree to go along with you. 

“Oh, sure, but... why approach me? Wouldn't Rose be more to your style?” Ivan questioned.

“Oh, well,” Adrien shrugged, “honestly speaking, being a celebrity model, I have to be really careful about talking to girls. Rumours, you know? Sometimes fans can get a little...” his face turned slightly disturbed, before he waved a hand as though brushing the subject aside. “Besides, I have Chloé, Marinette, and Alya, not to mention most of the people who talk to me outside class are all girls, but as for guys I really only have Nino who's my friend...”

“Oh, yeah, I get you on that one,” Ivan said with a nod.

“So,” Adrien began, making himself comfortable on the other end of the bench. “Tell me about yourself? What's your home life like? Do you have any siblings? What do your parents do for a living? What do you want to be when you grow up? What kind of hobbies do you have? Um... where do you go to hang out? Um...” Adrien flushed slightly and shifted his weight.

“Nino wasn't kidding, you _really aren't_ used to making friends,” Ivan pointed out. Adrien flushed a darker shade of pink and looked ashamed, but Ivan just shook his head and pushed on. “I don't... normally talk much? But um, well, I'm an only kid and I live with my parents. My old man's a suit and my mum's got a health spa she works at. For the most part I just hang around at home, watching Netflix and YouTube and stuff. I play some video games, mainly FPS PvPs. Or I go hang out at my friend's houses. Juleka's older brother is pretty cool, he practically eats, sleeps, and breathes music, so he's awesome to get advice from for the songs I write. And lately I've been helping Mylène with her volunteering. Things like serving soup at homeless shelters or cleaning up garbage along the Seine. It... helps after the akuma... knowing I can still be a good person, even though it made me kill all those people...”

Adrien reached over and put a hand on Ivan's arm. “Hey, you know that wasn't really you, right?” he waited until Ivan gave him a rather forced smile before continuing. “I'm practically an only child, myself,” he said as way of changing the subject. “My Mère was an actress before she got sick, and my Père... well, I'm sure you at least heard of him. Like most celebrity couples, the stress of it... well, they didn't work out and had a messy divorce when I was little, and the courts decided to split the custody. Félix was the baby, so Mère took him and they moved back to her parents house on the outskirts of London. They call on birthdays and Christmas and stuff, but... Père doesn't really like me spending too much time talking to them after Mère got remarried.”

“Jeez, that sucks,” Ivan sympathized. 

Adrien flashed a smile, “It's fine, I'm used to it. Like I said, I was only little when they left, so it really more feels like they're distant relatives or something. What kind of shows do you watch? Nino's been having me binge old classic movies that have done something groundbreaking with their cinematography lately. I also have a lot of video games.”

They then compared video games and movies and music they listened to until Mlle Bustier called the class back to order for the next lesson and Adrien returned to his seat.

~*~

Mireille had waited in the school cafeteria to snag the blond model for a minute of private chat when he first came in that day, but when that lanky, dead-beat looking friend of his came in and sat with the other music geeks, she knew Adrien wasn't coming to lunch today. It wasn't uncommon, he only stayed at the school for about a third of his lunch periods, but it was the best bet of a place someone outside of his class could have to speak with him.

Trying her luck, Mireille turned away from the rest of the school and hurried to the front entrance of the collège. However, as she had suspected, there was no one waiting on the curb outside. Sighing, Mireille looked down at the present she had made for him. She didn't want it to go stale from taking too long to give to him, and she had made it specifically with Adrien in mind, pouring her thoughts of love towards him into every stir. People always said that the secret ingredient to baking was love, after all, so she had made sure to fill this cake with all the love she held in her so he could taste it with every bite!

Mireille's phone dinged with a notification, and she pulled it out to check what it had to say. At the sight of the Instagram post, her stomach did flip-flops. On the one hand, she was thirsty for whatever new information she could get her hands on about Adrien and his life. On the other hand, it infuriated her that the source of the information was none other than Chloé Bourgeois rubbing it in everyone else's face that she knew him so much better and was so much closer to Adrien than anyone else. Mireille knew—she just knew—this was being done all because Chloé was trying to intimidate her into keeping her distance from the model. 

But Mireille wouldn't let that bully dictate her life like that. She knew her Adrien liked her, she had seen the way his eyes lingered on her, and she had given him a birthday present when even Chloé hadn't! She opened the message and gave it a quick read.

 **theofficialChloébourgeois** As promised, my faithful followers, the juicy deets about my @adrienagrestebrand that you won't hear about from anyone else! Truth is, my @adrienagrestebrand is a huge shipper for Ladybug/Chat Noir! Though we're both in agreement that Ladybug is by far the better hero of the both of them #WhosYourHero #HeroesOfParis #LadybugIs1 #ThatDarnChat

Already there was a number of responses, people gushing about hero ships and a debate breaking out over which hero was the better one and why. Currently, it seemed Ladybug was winning. Honestly, Mireille couldn't care less. Superheroes was something little boys in école spent their time drooling over, not mature young women like herself. But there was no denying that Adrien Agreste adored the Parisian heroes, Ladybug especially, and so Mireille had to force herself to pay attention to them so she could keep up as he gushed about them with the Ladyblogger girl. Still, she threw her chips into the conversation on Ladybug's side, determined to show she had as much in common with Adrien as she could.

With the scales tipped in her favour just that minuscule amount more, Mireille decided she'd just leave her present in Adrien's locker, where he was sure to find it. She had written him a love letter to go with it just in case something happened and she didn't have the time or courage to confess in person, anyway. She already knew which locker was his, and it didn't take long to convince the student who had it the year before to tell her the combination—just a shout-out on national television—and she was on her way.

However, her next obstacle came when she entered the locker room. Mireille didn't know why, but Chloé and Aurore and their respective groupies had chosen this of all places to be where they staged their cat fight. Looking a little closer, Mireille saw that one of Chloé's little tag-alongs was wearing the same shirt as Aurore, only Aurore's was in blue and the tag-along was in green. Mireille rolled her eyes, finally understanding what the fight was about, and feeling second-hand mortification for both girls, but otherwise more concerned on how she would get around them. 

Deciding her best bet was just to act natural and try not to draw attention to herself, she casually skirted around the edge of the fight going on, trying her best to look like she was just going to her own locker for something. Having successfully bypassed the feuding blonds and their entourages, Mireille rounded the corner and started inputting the locker combination. 

She wasn't really paying attention to the fact that it had suddenly gone rather quiet, assuming it was just another stare-off, until she heard Chloé's voice speaking up right behind her. “What are you doing?” she demanded, and Mireille turned to see her standing with one hip cocked and her arms crossed. Beside her, her most faithful stooge stood with her phone out, recording the incident. Aurore, and the rest of their friend groups trailed off back the way they had come, all watching her with varying levels of suspicion. 

Mireille cursed to herself under her breath, most of the assembled girls were fellow Adrien fans with their own hands in the pot. “Changing my books out,” Mireille attempted to bypass the situation if she could.

“Your locker is over _there_ ” Chloé pointed out uncrossing her arms to gesture back in the other direction from their audience. Afterwards, her hands ended up planted squarely on her hips as she leaned forward into Mireille's space. “What are you doing trying to break into _my Adrichou's_ locker?! And you better tell the truth this time, I'll get you suspended for weeks if you don't!”

Realizing she was caught, Mireille decided to come clean. “I'm leaving him a present that I made him,” she said, showing the box. 

Chloé snatched it away before handing it off to an underling and going off on Mireille verbally. “I already warned you to back off and stop this creepy stalkerish behaviour towards my Adrichou! He doesn't _want_ you! He's not interested in you, all he _wants_ is to be left alone and enjoy making friends!”

“You don't get to dictate who he can and can't have relationships with! Just because you want him for yourself, you think you can claim him and monopolize his time, and that every other girl who's interested should just back off! Well guess what? He _is_ interested in me! I can _tell_ by the way he _looks at me_ that he feels it too! We're _made_ for each other! It's _destiny_!”

Chloé looked unimpressed. “You don't know _the first thing_ about Adrichou if you can't tell _he doesn't want that_ from the likes of _you_. I don't care what you think, I will _always_ protect my Adrichou from stalkers like you.” It was then the younger student had finally managed to undo the wrapping on Mireille's present and show it to Chloé. The queen of the school then lost it. “A _cheesecake_?! Do you have _any idea_ how much trouble my Adrichou would be in for something like this?! He is a _model_ , you stupid bimbo! He's on a _very_ regulated diet, and you try to give him something that's almost _pure sugar and fat_?! And you probably put something creepy and gross in it, too! Ugh! Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”

At the indignant, angry looks she was getting from the assembled crowd, Mireille burst into embarrassed tears, grabbed her present, and ran from the room.

~*~

Adrien got back to school before the lunch bell rang, he had told Nathalie he wanted to use the time to ask the science teacher something about the previous day's lesson so he'd be allowed to go early. But really, he just wanted out of that house and away from his father. Not that Gabriel Agreste deigned to show his face at all for the scheduled lunch that prevented Adrien from staying and having fun with his friends, but whenever his father got into one of his moods, it somehow seemed to permeate throughout the house until it affected the atmosphere in every room, regardless of his presence or not. Adrien found it stifling and claustrophobic, and was just so glad he had a viable excuse to get away.

But that wasn't his only purpose for coming back early. While Nino might not know of any rumours about the school, if there was anything Adrien knew about young girls from watching television it was that they all loved to talk and gossip. And he just so happened to know a group of young girls from several different classes and years. He spotted them standing around in the courtyard, not an uncommon place for groups to gather after they had finished eating their lunch for the day. Standing near the centre was another person he was especially keen to speak to. 

As expected, some of the girls caught sight of him as Adrien approached, their faces lighting up. Was it bad of him to use his fans this way? Maybe a little, but it wasn't like he was asking any of them to put themselves in danger, just pass on any rumours that they happened to know about. “Afternoon, ladies!” he greeted with a grin.

A chorus of greetings and giggling met him in response. Even if they are fans, he liked them. They're all so nice and inclusive, sticking up for Marinette like that this last week and making sure she knows she's not alone. He wished she would let him be someone she could lean on like that as well, but she was just so terribly shy and nervous. Then maybe he'd be able to start seeing her for herself instead of a stand-in for his Lady, which wasn't really a very nice thing to do to Marinette. He should strive to make friends with her for herself, she was very sweet and kind after all. 

He pushed aside the irrelevant thoughts of his Lady love and his classmate to focus on what he wanted at the moment. “Say, seeing as it's Halloween this month, I've been kind of in the mood for spooky stories. Do any of you know of any urban myths or creepy rumours about the school? Or maybe about the neighbourhood?”

As the question stirred up a series of girls pondering back to what they had heard in the past, Adrien sidled up to Aurore. “What about you? Have you heard of anything anywhere you like to hang out?”

“Oh, well, not really? I could ask around if you'd like?” Aurore offered, flattered by his one-on-one attention.

“Where do you hang out, anyway? I mean, I know you want to get into showbiz, but where have you been going for all that?” Adrien pressed.

“Oh, well, there's... there's a studio I go to for dance lessons, and I have a vocal coach that I see on weekends to help me with singing and accents. Why?”

He shrugged. “This last week you've been speaking up in defence of Marinette. It was really sweet of you to stand up for her like that, it made me realize how nice of a person you really are. So, I... kinda wanted to get to know you better? You're such a great friend to her, and, well, I don't have a lot of people in my life that I know I can turn to. I was... hoping you might become one of them?”

“Of course! Of course you could always turn to me! I will always be there for you, Adrien! And you're right! You're totally right! Marinette is such a great friend of mine, I really appreciate her and how she stood by me and supported me after I lost the KIDZ+ competition! It's amazing you saw it! You're amazing for seeing it!” Aurore jumped on the cue and doubled down, thrilled that her plan was working, that Adrien was noticing her. It didn't matter that she had to be nice with Marinette Dupain-Cheng of all people, if that was the path to his heart she'd be the best damn friend that disaster girl ever had or ever will have, whether she liked it or not! She could play the part, she could be whatever he wanted, and then he would love her the most!

“Really? That's great!” he said, smiling brightly. “If that's the case, would you mind telling me a bit more about yourself? I'd really like to get to know you better.” 

His other fans stood with mouths agape and tripping over themselves to win back his attention, but to Aurore, no one in the universe existed in that moment but her and him. “Of course!” she breathed, too happy to even think strait as she launched into her life story.

~*~

Mireille flopped back onto her bed with a groan. Today had not gone to plan at all. Her morning had been a bust, and she had managed to draw the ire of the school's queen on top of failing her confession. Then at lunch she had missed her beloved again because she had been in the bathroom crying over him, despite the fact that he had apparently come back early and had even flirted with Aurore of all people! That girl was such a snob and a poser, what could a wonderful guy like Adrien see in a fake like her? 

It was clear Aurore had somehow managed to get away with pulling the wool over his eyes, and Mireille was determined to save him from her deceptions. That girl was too cunning and too ready to lie about herself and others to play whatever part suited her end goals. But when Mireille attempted approaching Adrien after school to warn him and remind him of his better options by finally giving him her present and love letter, he had avoided her. He had said some nonsense about Chinese and piano lessons after school for why he couldn't even take five minutes to listen to her, before jumping into his car where that giant chauffeur of his had blocked Mireille from even approaching the car door.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. At that stupid KIDZ+ show that she hosted, she had been forced to talk for close to an hour about the gala the Mayor was putting on for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Not that that on it's own was so very bad, but the producer had insisted on a focus towards the ever popular Adrien Agreste and how he was expected to be taking none other than the Mayor's daughter, Chloé Bourgeois, as his date for the evening once more. Then made her talk excitedly about a potential romance between Paris's two sweetheart child celebrities who had grown up together and who's parents were close friends for years. 

She had wanted to retch, being forced to talk about her soon-to-be boyfriend being with the girl who had not once but twice that very day attacked her, and make it sound like a positive thing. If this was what being a news reporter for TVi's child broadcast took, she wasn't sure it was worth the effort. After all, once she got her guy, the job really didn't serve her much more benefit, he was rich enough to provide for her and it was nothing but an emotional strain. 

Her phone vibrated, and Mireille reached over, realizing she hadn't taken it off silent since she had gotten off work. She saw at once that there were a number of missed texts, predominantly from Aurore, but also from some of the other girls in their class. She opened the texts and skimmed through them, only partially reading them. 

**Aurore** I can't believe you actually thought Adrien would go for you! lol

 **Aurore** you know he said to me today that he wants to get to know me better

 **Aurore** he asked me all kinds of things about my family and my interests

 **Aurore** we talked for a long time about my singing lessons and what sorts of music I preform

 **Aurore** he's never cared about what you're into

 **Aurore** but of course, he loves you soooo much! lmao

 **Aurore** god talk about delusional!!1!

And another thread...

 **Océane** hey, stalker chick! You better stay away from Adrien or else!

 **Océane** he's too good for the likes of you!

 **Océane** don't go making claims you don't have a right to! Adrien will be MINE!

And another...

 **Paige** you delusional bitch, who gave you the right to claim Adrien?! 

**Paige** he's not an object, you know!

 **Paige** no wonder he ran from you after class!

And another...

 **Dominique** you know, I used to really look up to you

 **Dominique** I can't believe I was so blind

 **Dominique** you're a horrible person

 **Dominique** just go kill yourself!

 **Dominique** kill yourself!!

 **Dominique** DIE!!!

Mireille threw her phone across the room, not even caring when it shattered against her wall. Just to get their voices out of her head. How could one day have turned her whole world upside-down? This morning had been so perfect, she was a young girl in love, about to confess to the boy of her dreams who she knew loved her back. She just wanted to go back to that, where she loved him most and he loved her and they were just waiting until one of them made the next move. She pulled out the love letter she had written to him the night before and stared at it as she tried to imagine another, better world.

The tears made her vision blurry and she didn't even bother holding back the sob that wracked her body. “ _Poor little girl, I know well your pain. The one you were meant to love has been ripped from you, stolen by others, but you know deep down that the one he belongs to is you. I will give you the power to ensure his heart will stay yours forever, that he will worship you and only you for the rest of eternity, and all I ask in return is you grant me the same kindness by bringing me Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring!_ ”

“Of course, Le Papillon!”

~*~

Marinette stared at her phone with a dreamy sigh. Adrien was a Ladybug fan. She had kind of half suspected he would like Chat Noir best because he was the boy, but no. She giddily thought what it would be like to don the suit and go pay him a visit, but no. She had promised Tikki she wouldn't abuse her powers, she didn't want to turn into the next Papillon after all.

But this picture... she knew she probably shouldn't have snapped it of him without his knowledge or consent, she felt sheepish and even a little guilty about it, but she felt like she couldn't help it. Adrien had worn her scarf again today, and the sight of it had made her so happy she had snapped the photograph just so she could properly appreciate it in privacy. Because it wasn't like he knew he was wearing her scarf, he thought it was a present from his dad. So she had to cover up how much it meant to her that he wore it, even if all she wanted to do was gush about seeing him in it. Seeing an accessory she made along side Gabriel brand clothing! It was like a dream come true...

“Marinette, if all you're going to be doing is laying around looking at your phone and daydreaming about boys, wouldn't it be a better use of your time to practice being Ladybug?” Tikki pressured.

Marinette sighed in frustration. “Tikki, I can't go out right now, it's after my curfew! What would my parents say if they called me and I couldn't answer?”

“Then stay here, you can still lay in bed and play with your phone functions on your yo-yo,” ze replied.

“No way! What if someone walked in? How would I explain that?! Aren't you the one who's always telling me how important secret identities are?”

“Marin--” Tikki started to say back, only to cut hirself off at the sound of footsteps on the stairs heading towards the trap door. In a moment, the red kwami dove and vanished through the top of the bed.

The trap door burst open, and Marinette sat up expecting to be confronted by her mom or dad telling her goodnight or something, but instead to her total surprise, Aurore dressed in nothing but a night shirt clambered into her room. “Wha...?” was all Marinette got out before Sabrina in button-down flannel pyjamas entered a moment behind Aurore, followed further by an adult man Marinette didn't even recognize, then two more kids from her collège that Marinette didn't remember the names of, a woman that was a regular customer for the bakery, and then a boy of around seven she didn't know.

“Hey! What do you think you're doing in my room?!” Marinette demanded, even as she was coming to the horrible conclusion that something was not right with these people. They looked up at her blankly for a moment with glowing purple eyes, before turning away from her and began pulling her magazine clippings from her wall. “H-hey!” she cried indignantly at them for stealing her Adrien things.

Everyone piled the pictures into the arms of the little boy, and the woman even pulled her computer monitor from her desk before the pair began to leave. Meanwhile, Sabrina and Aurore led the remaining people up onto her loft bed. Sabrina crawled right past her and dug under her pillows for the magazine she had hidden there, while Aurore and the other students grabbed at her Adrien pictures on the cork board beside her bed. The large man, however, his eyes zeroed in on the smartphone clutched tightly in one of Marinette's hands.

He clambered onto Marinette's bed and reached for the thirteen-year-old, causing the girl to let out a shriek and kick out her feet towards the strange man's face. She knew at once something must have happened to her parents for her to scream like that and not have one or both of them come charging up here to see what was wrong, and somewhere in the back of her mind she panicked about what could have happened to them even as the man knelt over her to grab at her phone with both hands. She fought him, more on blind panic and instinct than any logical thought process, kicking and struggling in vain until finally her phone was ripped from her grasp. 

Then the man began descending the steps, followed by the others, and Marinette snatched out a hand and yanked at Sabrina's hair out of pure spite for the girl that had invaded her bedroom two days in a row. But the redhead didn't even react as they all continued their retreat, leaving a shaken Marinette sitting alone in her now Adrien-free room. After a minute to catch her breath from all of that, the blunette realized a little red figure was nuzzling soothingly against her cheek. “Tikki, transform moi!”

~*~

Chat Noir lay back against the white roof of his bedroom, staring up at the expanse above him in as much awe tonight as he had been the night before when he had laid eyes on it for the first time. He wondered if the sight of the stars in this eighth colour would ever stop being mindbogglingly beautiful, but part of him hoped not. He wanted to feel this sense of humbling wonder forever. 

He told himself he should probably get going, Plagg was still getting on his case for spending so much time as Chat Noir and the luck and balance stuff, but he was pretty sure he had it under control now. He couldn't be hurt and he was stronger, so this way his bad luck wouldn't interfere and prevent him from protecting his Lady in a fight. Plus he had to find out about Le Papillon. There was only so much he could do to research the villain in his civilian guise without raising questions or alerting anyone to his identity. So he had to move the investigation forward as Chat Noir, not just Adrien.

He knew he ought to get a move on, he had intended to go check out the area around Nino's home and maybe ask him some specific details about his akumatization that he wasn't sure would be appropriate for him to ask about as Adrien. Well, between him and Nino maybe it would, but he still felt they would be inappropriate questions to ask his other classmates outside of the mask. And with Nino and Alya and Ivan all being friends, he didn't want one of them mentioning the line of questioning to one of the others, only for there to be a glaring hole when Chat Noir never approached Nino and instead those questions were asked of him by Adrien. It would be better to just remain consistent with everyone.

He had nearly actually gotten to the point of talking himself into going, when a strange sound reached his enhanced ears. It was probably a good five blocks away, but he could hear a chorus of voices calling out his civilian name. Not only were they calling him, but their tone of voice held that special sort of reverence that he had come to associate over the years with the obsessive sort of fan. He certainly didn't remember anything Nathalie had said about a public event, and so that left only one disturbing conclusion. 

Chat Noir moved to go seek the source of this akuma-induced mob, only to pause as he realized what would happen within his household if he vanished in the middle of the night without a trace. Instead he turned and clambered down the back of the mansion to the ground floor where le Gorille's bedroom window was situated. He rapped smartly on the glass, and a moment later a large figure appeared, pushing the barrier aside curiously.

“Good evening, Monsieur! I purromised I would tell you, I was on the purrowl when I spotted what appeared to be an akuma attack targeting Adrien Agreste. I thought it purrudent to remewve him temporarily to a secure location for his own safety. He, however, was concerned you would worry over him and made me purromise to inform you of this fact before I purrsue my purrey.”

Though Chat could clearly see the worry in le Gorille's features, the large man grunted out his understanding and nodded stiffly before letting the feline hero get back to the task at hand. “I'll return him once the akuma attack is over!” Chat called over his shoulder as he vaulted back to the roof and began the process of backtracking to the source of the akuma. All together with his heightened speed and endurance he only took around five minutes to make it to Collège Françoise Dupont, having paused only the once to watch a group of men struggling to carry a billboard of his own face down an adjacent block.

This was just creepy, no other way to describe it. What sort of power did this akuma possess to cause the whole city basically to go crazy over anything related to him? And what actions could he have taken to make an akuma target his image like this?

He landed on the roof of his school just in time to see Ladybug be driven back onto the roof herself a few meters away, pursued by a flying figure swinging about an old ornate scroll like a whip. The akuma—because it could be nothing else—was a young woman with porcelain skin and silvery white hair cropped short to her chin. Her face resembled an old china doll with painted red lips, thick black lashes, and rosy cheeks, though none of it moved even as she called for Ladybug to surrender her Miraculous. For her clothes, she was dressed in what appeared to be white religious robes, like those worn by a bishop, decorated with gold trim and accents. She even had a tall pointed hat, though the cross imagery was missing from her person, and from her back sprouted two large golden feathered wings like those of an angel.

Ladybug threw out her yo-yo, aiming for the scroll, but the akuma nimbly dodged before loosing her scroll once more. Deciding he didn't really want to see what would happen if his Lady were struck by the paper, Chat propped his staff against the roof and extended it quickly, propelling himself fast enough to snatch his beloved away to safety. “Fancy meeting you here, nice night for a walk?” he joked as he landed in a crouch, one arm supporting the startled girl's back while she sat sideways across his lap.

Once she orientated herself, she slipped to her feet and both heroes stood tall together. Chat held his staff cautiously between them and the akuma just in case as he listened to the briefing. “The akuma calls herself OMyTaku, whatever _that's_ supposed to mean, and I think she's that girl who won the KIDZ+ thing? You know, the one Climatika was so upset about? She said something about making a temple to the model, Adrien Agreste. She's got like an army of hypnotized followers, she makes them when they are touched by her scroll. Then they get all creepy and start saying how much they love her and begging to be able to serve her. So far, she's only ordered them to bring her everything Adrien Agreste-related. They've been breaking into houses and ripping down ad posts and all kinds of crazy things like that. So don't let the paper touch you, who knows what she'll force you to do for her, but unfortunately I also think it's most likely the akumatized item because the writing on it is akuma purple.”

Chat Noir nodded, eyes not leaving the akuma, who had become distracted from the fight once she was no longer being actively engaged and had floated back down to the mountain of Adrien merchandise being compiled in the middle of the courtyard. Chat was a little disturbed to even spot what he was pretty sure was his entire locker and his desk and bench from class among the pile of things related to his alter ego. “Oh, Adrien! My Adrien! Soon you will belong to me and only me, and I shall worship you as my God on high! I will fulfill your every wish and desire, and all you must do is worship me!” OMyTaku spoke reverently to a billboard of him that had been brought in somehow and leaned against the second floor railing. 

“Yeah, okay, that's just disturbing,” Chat acknowledged.

“She keeps getting distracted like that, going off about all the things she's going to do with him. I've been trying to get a hold of her scroll when she does, but she's too agile in the air for me to manage by myself,” Ladybug explained. She tried to start walking to the edge of the roof to jump down and make another attempt, but stepped on some dead leaves, slicked down together by the rain a few days ago, the cool temperatures not letting things dry out. Chat barely managed to catch her from behind before she landed on her butt, or worse cracked her head open, because he could see everything around them clearly. “And that. Not being able to make out hazards on the ground and stuff definitely isn't helping me win this battle,” she complained, letting him help her get her feet under her again. 

“Don't worry, Miss Maladroite, I will catch you every time you fall,” Chat swore, sweeping his soulmate effortlessly into his arms bridal-style before leaping off the roof and landing silently in the courtyard below. The area was illuminated by dozens of candles and tea-lights scattered around the edges of the opening, like it were some giant alter hidden away in someone's closet. Or like someone was trying to set a romantic atmosphere or something. 

OMyTaku didn't notice them, too absorbed in her swooning over the faces of Adrien that looked at her from every direction. Honestly, the sight made Chat feel a little green around the gills, and he just wanted this fight over as fast as possible. “Right, so I'll use my yo-yo to make a net that will trap the akuma down low here, and you get the scroll and destroy it?” Ladybug suggested.

“Works for me!” Chat affirmed cheerily.

Ladybug threw her magic yo-yo, which began to wind itself back and forth between the bars of the railing. But the yo-yo only made a few passes back and forth across the gap before OMyTaku took notice of it. Cursing their failed plan as the akuma turned on Ladybug, Chat Noir shoved two fingers in his mouth and whistled a loud, shrill whistle. Both girls snapped around to him in shock at the noise, but it gave Ladybug the chance to reel her yo-yo back by just that much more. 

“You know, don't quote me on this, but I doubt 'crazy stalker monster' is really model-boy's type,” Chat sneered, purposefully moving away from his Lady as he spun his staff in front of himself in lazy twirls. With the akuma's cornflower eyes fixed on him, he circled around the room so she turned her back to his partner, even if it placed himself in a more treacherous location, pinned in on two sides by paraphernalia and a third by the akuma herself.

“Type? Type?! I've _seen_ the way he looks at me, the longing is unmistakable! Adrien just needs to be made to open his eyes and then he'll see! You'll _all_ see! He'll love me! And if he doesn't on his own, I'll just _make_ him love me! I have the power! Le Papillon gave it to me! I'll make him love me, and then he'll be mine forever! My special treasure that no one will ever manage to take from me!”

Chat Noir wanted to retch at the repulsive thought of someone forcing him to love them like that. Of having no say, no will. No, the only love for him in this life would be his Lady. His Lady who happened to be absolutely seething. “You despicable... disgusting... _vile_ witch! How _dare_ you try and say you _love_ Adrien when you'd consider doing such a thing to him! Love isn't something you can _force_ someone to feel! That's nothing but _kidnapping and rape_! If you _actually_ gave a crap about anyone but yourself, you'd realize that _owning_ and _isolating_ someone is _not_ love, it's just toxic abuse! It's wrong!”

“It's not wrong, it's _destiny!_ ” OMyTaku shrieked as she lunged at Ladybug for daring to talk back at her.

But Chat Noir was faster. With his staff extended he swung it like a baseball bat and knocked her away with a strike to the ribs. “Don't you dare touch her,” he hissed out dangerously, moving between the akuma and his Lady once more.

“Destinies like that don't exist. Everyone is free to choose who they love, regardless of gender, nationality, religion, or anything else! There's no fate or deity or force that makes it so you _have_ to be with someone! The only one who has the right to say if your love comes to fruition or not is the person you choose to express your feelings towards! And anything else is just plain wrong!” Ladybug declared. 

Her words were both a barb and a balm to Chat Noir's tender heart. That she would so blatantly deny their bond right before her soulmate felt crushing, like she was rejecting him outright on principle without ever giving him the chance to express everything she had come to mean to him since they met. Even if he had wanted to wait until he could see her beautiful smile and remember it forever before he told her what she meant to him, how he loved her more than anything else in existence. It was painful, the very notion she would reject him.

And yet how she described how she would love him... A pure love that held no bounds, that didn't restrict or attempt to own or dominate him. A free love that only relied on them to fulfill however they felt comfortable and desired. After a lifetime of having to prove he was worthy of even a scrap of his father's attention, of tiptoeing around foul moods and being locked away like some commodity that was only let out to be shown off to the highest bidders, a love like hers sounded heavenly. And he knew, in that moment, that fate hadn't gotten it wrong. She really was the one for him, that perfect girl made to complete him as he was made to complete her. 

_Milady didn't say anything about not loving me back, just that we are free to choose who we love,_ he reminded himself consolingly. And if that was how his Lady wanted it, then he would make it so. After all, his Lady was beautiful and wonderful and absolutely perfect for him. He never wanted to hurt her the way his father hurt him, never wanted her to feel anything less than truly loved, never wanted her to feel trapped or hunted by him like he often felt around his fans. Even if it hurt him, even if it killed him, he just wanted her to be happy.

However, in the moment it took for all of that to pass through Chat Noir's heart and mind, OMyTaku seemed to have come to a rather different conclusion. “I _will_ make him love me and only me! Just like I'll make _you heroes_ love and worship me so you'll hand me your Miraculous willingly!”she declared, lashing her scroll out at the pair of them like a whip. “And then, once I get your Miraculous, Le Papillon will let me keep my powers forever so Adrien will always be mine!” 

As she laughed a haughty princess laugh, Chat Noir and Ladybug were forced again and again to dodge the scroll's strikes. She would not focus on only one of them long enough for the other to move in and make a grab for the akumatized item. She drove them back further and further until they were forced to once more retreat to the roof.

“Ugh! Nothing's working!” Ladybug complained, voice dripping with frustration, worry, impatience, and lingering rage.

“I think it might be time for us to consider our powers,” Chat Noir advised.

Ladybug sighed in defeat. “You're right, nothing else is working. Lucky Charm!” The ladybugs released from the yo-yo clustered together, forming into a large heart-shaped object that was nearly as big as Ladybug's chest when she caught it. She barely blinked at it before she made a small, cute, squeaking noise not unlike what one might hear from a startled mouse and turned a bright red to match her suit. 

Finding the noise oddly intriguing to his feline senses, he stepped up curiously and looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. It turned out the heart-shaped thing was a large picture frame holding a photograph of Adrien Agreste standing on a warm sunny beach in nothing but swim trunks. Chat knew at once it was fake, he had never been allowed to a beach before, and never posed for anything shirtless before either. But as he read the signature and message scrawled in his own hand, he recognized the phone number to be his real one.

_To the most beautiful girl in all existence,  
There is nothing I wish more dearly than for you to be here in my arms.  
With all my love♡  
Adrien Agreste XOXOXOX  
P.S. Call me +33635124 _

All Ladybug could do was stare at the beautiful image and message before her. He was gorgeous, heavenly, perfection, a god beyond what her mere mortal eyes had the right to gaze upon. But more than anything, she knew that smile. She had searched and dug and scoured every picture of him ever taken and posted anywhere, but she had never found a single one with that smile. But she knew it. It was special. Hers. One he didn't share with anyone else. And here she had it in hand, finally a picture of that perfect smile that she could stare at as long as she wanted, forever and ever. But that wasn't right. This was her Lucky Charm, it was supposed to be used to beat the akuma. To save everybody. To give back all of Adrien that OMyTaku had stolen from around the city.

She knew, with how obsessive this akuma was with everything Adrien, exactly how this Lucky Charm was meant to be used. It didn't take any sort of genius at all to put the pieces together and come up with the solution for the puzzle. But to do that would mean she'd have to share this smile of Adrien's with someone else. That Le Papillon would see this face that Adrien had made just specially for her that day in the rain when he had given her his umbrella. That moment when she had fallen for him with all the force and depth of the oceans. She'd have to willingly give away that thing that meant more to her than anything else she had in her life.

“What's wrong?” Chat asked, noticing Ladybug's hesitation. 

“I know how to use my Lucky Charm, but I really don't want to hand over something like this to someone like her...” Ladybug admitted reluctantly.

Chat sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look, Milady, as commendable as it is that you want to purrotect this guy's purrivacy from someone like that, if we don't stop her, then that just means it's only a matter of time before she gets her hands on the real thing. Wouldn't that be so much worse than her getting a phone number that she won't even remember after the fight?”

Ladybug's earrings beeped their four-minute warning. She let out a frustrated noise somewhere between a whine and a groan, before letting out a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and put on her mask of professionalism. “No, you're right. Okay. Chat, just make sure you're ready to call your Cataclysm, we don't know if the power of the scroll works or not when she's not touching it.”

With that order given, Ladybug dropped herself down to the courtyard below. When OMyTaku turned on her, Ladybug held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, you win. You're more than we can handle, and well, you're not _actually_ hurting anyone. So I wanted to give you this peace offering and we'll be on our way.” Ladybug held the picture frame out, showing the contents of the image and causing the akuma to hungrily zoom in on the photograph. 

OMyTaku pulled the picture frame from Ladybug's grasp, the size of it causing her to need to hold it with both hands as she drank in every detail of the image. Because of this, the scroll had been shifted carelessly so it was only being held pressed against the back of the picture frame by her ring and pinky fingers while all the rest of her attention was on the photo. “Of course I'll call you, Adrien!” the akuma giggled, her cornflower eyes sparkling.

Ladybug's yo-yo shot out, striking the scroll from her careless grasp and sending it towards the ground. Following it in the same arc, the magical tool bound the scroll up before the akuma had the chance to make a grab at it. Ladybug yanked the string back towards the roof amid OMyTaku's howl of rage. As the winged figure attempted pursuit, a spotted red hand deftly snatched the picture frame back. OMyTaku turned for the picture instead of the scroll as Ladybug heard her partner call out “Cataclysm!” as he waited for the scroll to fall into his hand.

Chat watched the explosions of the eighth colour dancing around his fingers like fireworks against the starry sky in wonder for a moment, before the scroll landed in his grasp. The akuma below let out one last howl of despair before falling to the ground a normal girl once more. Meanwhile, Ladybug's yo-yo caught the fluttering black and purple mass that rose from the ashes and attempted to flee.

Jumping down to join her, Chat held out his fist, which she met with her own. However, he noticed she hadn't thrown the picture frame to call for her Miracle Cure yet. She peeled it from her protective hold of it against her chest, staring at it for a long moment in the candle light, trying to memorize exactly how the image looked. Unconsciously, her fingers lifted to caress the contour of his smiling face.

“Oh,” Chat breathed, barely audible as realization dawned. Ladybug was a fan of Adrien. A giddy smile pulled at the corner of his lips, well, then, he had nothing to fear. When he revealed himself to her, she would be thrilled and love him back for sure. But in the meantime, she couldn't spend forever staring at that photograph. “Oh, Milady, I'll let you take as many pictures of me as you want, wearing whatever you desire, posing however you want me to. I'll sign them with whatever words you want me to write on them...” he purred lovingly and a little suggestively in her ear, reaching up to play with the end of her pigtail.

Ladybug blinked and looked up at the cat-boy blankly. “Why would I want something like that?”

He let out a small laugh at his inside joke, “Well, you keep staring longingly at that photo, so I figured you must have a thing for hot blonds!” he stated, teasingly striking a few slightly exaggerated model poses. She turned bright red and sputtered for a few moments before her earrings went off again and she rolled her eyes in exasperation at his teasing, finally calling for her Cure. 

“Anybody that calls themselves 'hot' are just narcissistic egomaniacs,” she countered, though not bitingly.

Chat Noir laughed again, “Hey, I've been told by loads of people that I'm hot! I'm just quoting them!”

“Yeah, right!” Ladybug quipped back.

“But what about you, Milady? If it's not just hot blonds, are you purrhaps an Adrien fangirl, too?” he questioned. He knew he was right when she suddenly got shy and flustered. “Did it make your heart flutter when it hit social media that he's a huge Ladybug fan?”

“Th-that...!” was all she could get out.

“But you know,” he went on, folding his hands atop his staff and leaning towards her, “it also said he's a huge fan of shipping us together. What do you think, should we make his day by having his OTP kiss?” he joked, sticking his lips out and making kissing noises.

That snapped her out of her embarrassment, causing her to scoff and roll her eyes at his childish behaviour. “Dream on, Casanova! The _only_ reason you should kiss someone is because you love them and they love you!” she insisted, shoving his face away playfully.

“Don't you mean 'Catsanova'?” he pressed as he stepped back obediently.

This earned him a loud groan and an eye-roll. “Seriously. How long have you been waiting to use that one? Is that the reason for your incessant flirting? So you can be 'Catsanova'?”

Chat laughed at her exasperation. This was fun. He liked this. “On the contrary, Milady, I only thought of it on the spot, purrompted by your own choice of words.”

Her more exaggerated groan and a roll of her eyes that went so far that it became a roll of her head somewhat covered the beep of her earrings. “That's it! The puns have become too much! I'm out! See you next time, Minou!” she called as she tossed her yo-yo and swung away into the night.

~*~

Adrien got out of Chloe's limousine before offering his hand to help her to her feet as well. He was unbelievably thankful she had gotten him out of the house for the day, but was honestly still trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Ladybug was an Adrien Agreste fan. There might be some sort of media-based connection between the akumatized victims? And Mireille...

As usual the pair made a bee-line for the cuddly critters towards the back of the shop. The employees that worked at the shop were already accustomed to the two child celebrities coming to play with their merchandise, judging by the stand that had been set up in plain view full of various treats and cage toys. With Chloé being such a spontaneous shopper, Adrien would bet it was set up mainly for her. She had the habit of wanting to buy a bag of treats specifically for each creature in the cage, then forgetting her purchases when she went on to the next selection of animals.

Adrien had asked one of the workers there if such behaviour was really okay, and had been assured that all the extra toys and food they left behind every week were donated to local animal shelters. After that assurance, he stopped caring and just enjoyed watching the hamsters and other pets explore their new toys, knowing it brought mental stimulation to untold numbers of animals they would never see. 

“I'm glad you were able to come out with me today,” Chloé announced suddenly. “You know #WhosYourHero is trending?”

“Oh? And who is winning?” Adrien asked casually.

“Well, if it's not Ladybug, then Paris is full of idiots!” Chloé scoffed. “She's too precious to loose to that mangy old alley cat!”

“You do know it was Chat Noir who saved me from the last two akuma attacks, right?” Adrien pointed out.

“Oh my, do you think he's got a crush on you? Poor him, he's totally not your type...” Chloé pondered, making Adrien laugh.

“I doubt his saving me has any further implications than just a hero doing his job,” he assured her.

“Besides, you don't swing that way... do you?” she clarified as an afterthought. 

Adrien just shrugged. “I've never been interested in any guys. All the people I've been attracted to are girls, so I'm sort of doubting it. Besides, even if I were bi or something, the girl I work with is the only one for me.”

“Speaking of crushes, what was that I heard about you paying so much attention to Aurore?” 

“Well, she's been really nice to Marinette lately. Supportive and kind and all that. I thought it would be nice to have a few friends like that, too,” he explained, repeating his excuse so he didn't have to mention anything about his investigation into Le Papillon. Not that he didn't trust Chloé to know what information needed to remain private and what was okay to make public, but he didn't want to give her too many clues about his secret identity. She was smart, and extremely sharp and perceptive, and knew him like no one else ever had before. If anyone would be able to put the clues together and figure out who he was under the mask, he knew it would be Chloé, but he wanted his Lady to be the first to know.

“You need to be careful,” she warned. “You know she's a fan of yours, it would be bad if you let off the wrong signals. Besides, Aurore's the sort of person who'll change everything about herself if it means getting what she wants. She's not really kind or supportive at all, up until the start of the year she hated Dupain-Cheng almost as much as I do!”

“Well, if she's changing to be a better person, isn't that a good thing?” Adrien questioned. “I should support and encourage that sort of behaviour, rather than potentially drive her further into negative personality traits.”

“But they're not real!” Chloé tried to argue.

“And neither is any of the things you tell me to do in order to uphold my image. Or all the things you do to uphold yours. So really, by that logic, we're just as bad. But isn't it better if the image she's upholding of herself is a good, kind, generous person rather than someone self-centred and stuck up?”

Chloé pouted for a long moment. “I just don't want to see you get hurt. I put my faith in her in the past and she stabbed me in the back. She's only doing all of this now because she's got feelings towards you.”

“I'll be careful, I promise. But I'm not going to be able to keep out of interacting with fans completely, so if I foster positive relations with fans behaving appropriately, and distance myself from those that don't, surely the positive reinforcement will encourage everyone to act on their best behaviour, right?” he postulated.

“Just remember, you _can_ tell people to back off if they aren't respecting your positive reinforcement,” Chloé pushed. When Adrien failed to meet her eye, she frowned. “Adrichou...”

“N-no, I... I get it, it's just... I'm worried Père won't take kindly to my telling fans off. After last night's akuma, he threatened to take me out of school if being there gave me bad publicity,” he admitted.

Chloé let out a disgruntled huff, dug out her phone, and shot off a quick message to one of her other friends. A younger girl who she knew straddled the line between her and Aurore's friend groups. That was a threat that she couldn't afford to ignore.

~*~

As expected, the news about Adrien's precarious enrolment in their collège spread among his fans like wildfire. Not even two hours later Aurore had called together a meeting of everyone she could get to come to discuss as a group how they should ensure their idol was not taken from them.

After this last akuma from the night before, everyone was feeling hyper-aware about the ideas of stalking and overly obsessive behaviours. Because of that, a debate had broken out over what should and should not be acceptable behaviour towards Adrien, which devolved into a few rounds of “I don't want you doing this or that to _my_ future boyfriend!” at which point they eventually stopped and started writing things down as official rules and everyone had to concede that if no one else was allowed to do something to Adrien, then they weren't either.

Now, three hours after the meeting had begun, after hash and rehash of their lists, they had finally come to something of an agreement between them all. “So, Collège Françoise Dupont's Official Adrien Agreste Fan Club rules are as follows: First and foremost, you will not under any circumstances spread rumours or stories about Adrien. If you witness anyone saying things about him that is not stated in an interview or other official source, you will shut them down at once! 

“Second, there will be no snooping around for information regarding him. That means no trying to work out his schedule so you can always be where he is, no asking around for his locker combination, none of that! If he tells you, that's different, but the goal here is to prevent him being in a situation where he has to tell his papa about something someone at school did, and he decides to pull Adrien out for good!

“Third, which is sort of an extension of second I guess? No stealing his stuff! It's creepy, stalkerish, and just plain a jerk move. It doesn't matter if it's just a pencil, or if it's his gym shirt, you wouldn't want someone doing it to you, so don't do it to him. Remember, girls, we have to prevent any action that could cause M Agreste to think our collège is a bad place for his son to be! Avoid being selfish now, so we can all continue basking in the presence that is Adrien Agreste!

“And speaking of avoiding being selfish, rule number four is keep your hands to yourselves! No one wants to see their beloved boyfriend with another girl all over him, and if you don't want to see it yourself, you can't do it either! If he initiates touch, that's one thing, accidents are also acceptable so long as it's clearly not staged and doesn't happen too often. None of us are Marinette Dupain-Cheng, so don't think you can suddenly get two left feet to get around this rule.

“Number five is that while it's okay to subtly show attraction to him, no one is allowed to approach Adrien to ask him out. If he confesses to you and asks you out, you are allowed to accept, but he has to make the first move! No hounding him with confessions or love letters or anything like that. Valentines Day, of course, is the exception if he's not already dating someone by then. You're allowed to give him Valentines cards to express your interest, but for the rest of the year it's him only that can approach and start a relationship.

“Which brings us finally to rule number six. In the event Adrien does choose to start dating one of us, no one else is allowed to hassle or attack the girl he chooses in any way, shape, or form. The rest of you will just have to be gracious and wait your turn!” with that final declaration, Aurore sat back down and looked around at her fellow fans, waiting to see if any more arguments would be raised.

When it became clear that no one would, Aurore called the first meeting of the Fan Club to a close.

~*~

Adrien practically glided through the crowds at the edge of the gala's dance floor. Basically everyone who was anyone in France had made an appearance to show support for Paris's new heroes. The Huntsman and his teen sidekick, Surefire, had even made an appearance as representatives of the League of Heroes, crashing the party after dealing with a supervillain over in Spain. Not that anyone minded, and both Adrien and Chloé now had napkins tucked into their personal effects signed by the American heroes, but still they hadn't originally been invited. 

On his arm hung Chloé, the very image of polite society in her Style Queen brand back dress with gold accents that she wore with such poise and grace that it was hard to remember she was only thirteen. Adrien himself wore a black suit of his father's design. A rather unfortunate side effect of being best friends with the daughter of a rival fashion designer, everyone knew the two would be together, and so their parents had the habit of subtly trying to one-up the other in the designs of their clothes at every public event. 

And despite it being the contrasting colour to the golds and yellows Audrey Bourgeois always used in her designs, for as long as Adrien could remember he had always been put in shades of purple. Purple for him, and blue for Félix, just like his mother's fairies that she used to call on for them. So of course he was supplied with a lavender waistcoat and a purple tie covered with the interlinking circles that formed the purple butterfly-like pattern that was the Gabriel logo. Given recent events, Adrien found the design a little tasteless and wondered idly if his father intended to change it. He knew the origin was likely the fairies, and the fact that their surname could mean 'greyling butterfly', but perhaps at least switching it to the blue of Félix and the other fairy?

When they were comfortably between two groups of people, Chloé leaned in and asked, “Alright, what's wrong with you? You're even more zoned out than usual at these things. I think the only time you came back to focus all night was when we were meeting the archers!”

“Sorry, it's just... I had this whole plan worked out about how I was going to ditch you for like ten minutes tonight so I could go ask Ladybug for a dance. I knew exactly what excuses I would make and what lies I would tell you to get away with it and everything. But... then Ladybug doesn't even show up, and Père is still in a mood for whatever reason, and I'm probably going to get into so much trouble for spending the whole day with you like that when he is, so now I'm just sort of bummed out, you know?”

“You were going to ditch me to dance with Ladybug? What about that girl you like? Wouldn't she get mad about seeing pictures of you dancing with another pretty girl?” Chloé questioned, subtly veering them away from the next gathering of socialites who were chatting ahead of them.

“Anyone who'd be mad at me for taking the chance to dance with Ladybug at a party like this isn't worth it...”

“...Well, that's good, then I guess I don't have to feel guilty that I was basically planning to do the same thing to you...” the girl on his arm admitted unabashedly.

“You-you like girls?!” Adrien whisper-shouted in shock.

“No, but, well, I mean I wouldn't throw Ladybug out of my bed or anything. What sort of idiot would I be to pass up the chance to dance with her if I could?”

He just shook his head at this. “I love you, how could anyone ever so completely just... get me the way you do?”

“That's because we grew up together, Adrichou,” she responded, sharing a quiet laugh with him in this intimate moment between her and her childhood friend. 

They walked a little while longer, stopping every now and again to exchange polite words with adults twice to three times their own age before continuing on in their endless circling of the room. Eventually, Chloé let out a sigh. “I wish we could just sneak away upstairs to my room and watch My Hero Acadamia...”

Adrien sighed wistfully himself. “Yeah, or the new Victory movie...”

“Or we could finally get around to finishing Host Club?” she pressed hopefully.

“Unfortunately for Haruhi, I'm afraid my Père expects me to be the face of the company and not make him look bad by ducking out early with the host's daughter. We aren't little kids anymore, people will talk if we try something like that, and Nathalie's been sent along to keep an eye on me.”

Chloé sighed. She hated that image and growing up got in the way of what they really wanted to do. Three years ago, he would have followed her willingly. Five years ago he would have jumped at the chance the moment she mentioned anime. Eight years ago, when there had still been three of them, the boys would have dragged her away from this boring party ages ago without a second thought. Sometimes she missed that adventurous little boy that her best friend had grown from being.

“Well, the courtyard is technically part of the party, let's go walk in the gardens,” she insisted after a minute, tugging at the taller boy's arm until he caught up with her change of direction again. They walked for a bit, talking about how cool it was to actually meet members of the League of Heroes, before Chloé pulled him over to a secluded bench, complaining she was tired and her heals were killing her feet. 

They sat in companionable silence for a bit, Adrien's eyes drawn upwards of their own volition, wishing he could transform to see the eighth colour again. Seeming to notice where his attention had wandered, Chloé laid her head on his shoulder and asked, “Tell me about the stars?” And so he did, reaching back into his memory to imagine the sight he had seen the previous two nights and superimpose it on the one he was looking at now, he began pointing and talking about every fact he had memorized.

~*~

Mireille entered the locker room Monday morning still feeling a little embarrassed about what she had apparently done while she was akumatized. All the way here, people had been giving her strange looks as though trying to gauge her trustworthiness. In the room itself she saw _him_ over talking to his friend Nino while Chloé stood to the side looking huffy as usual. When they saw her, Nino placed a reassuring hand on Adrien's shoulder and said something she couldn't hear from this distance, but the blond boy nodded, took a deep breath, and walked over to the Asian girl, flanked by his two friends.

“Um, Mireille?” he began once he got within comfortable speaking range.

“Y-yes?” Mireille squeaked back, not failing to notice that he came to a stop just outside of the range she could reach out and touch him at. 

“A-about Friday...” Adrien scratched at the back of his neck. “Chat Noir told me what happened during the akuma fight. He said something about a l-love letter?”

Mireille felt her heart sink at the concerned look Nino was watching her with and the annoyed one Chloé was shooting at her. She swallowed hard. “Um, yes, er, it-it's right here,” she supplied, digging into her bag and pulling it out, still sealed with the little red heart sticker and everything.

Adrien took it politely, though he looked deeply uncomfortable. “Look, Mireille, I'm sorry, but... The truth is, I'm not currently interested in that kind of relationship with you—with anybody. In fact, I'm actually forbidden by my Père from getting into anything like that with anybody, especially a fan. And, well, I've only just turned thirteen and I don't feel I'm ready to start dating yet, especially with my work and all my extracurricular activities. So, while I'm flattered you feel that way towards me, for the moment I just want to focus on my schooling and hanging out with my friends.”

“O-oh...” was all Mireille could think to say, tears welling in her brown eyes.

“I'm really sorry!” Adrien hurried to say. “You're really pretty, and do seem like a really nice girl from what I've got to know of you so far, and I'm sure you'll find someone who will return your feelings for them soon. But I'm afraid it just can't be me...”

The Asian girl nodded, tears starting to fall down her cheeks, before she turned and sprinted off for the girl's bathroom where she could drown out her heartache in privacy. 

Adrien watched her go with a conflicted, guilty expression, before turning to his friends and asking, “I made her cry. Was it something I said? Was I too mean? I didn't mean to be, I was trying to let her down gently!”

Nino pulled the model into a one-armed hug. “You weren't mean, she's just heartbroken. It'll take a bit, but she'll get over it.”

“It would be more cruel of you to have lead her on,” Chloé pointed out. “This way she knows where you stand and she's not getting her hopes up for something that will never come to pass. Now she can focus her attention on someone that's actually in her league, instead of trying to bat for something too high.”

“I suppose,” Adrien agreed reluctantly as the three made their way to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the start of Adrichat investigating the akuma and Papillon. There will be returning references to this in the upcoming chapters. Him tracking people down and talking to them about their akumatizations and their social and familial connections. Poor boy doesn't realize HE is the tie Papillon has to the school, but...
> 
> From here on out, there will be the occasional off-screen akumatization starting to happen. I couldn't let there be before this because the puzzle pieces had to start being put together. But yay for me actually managing to get a bit of proper Ladrien into a chapter. Next up is a Marichat chapter with Evillistrator. 
> 
> And I just got to say, I love how Chloe's handling of Nathalie came out. And yay for Nino being a supporting friend. The cast will be coming back to the brief mention of Gabriel's moods, but that scene it was mentioned in was already getting too long so it'll be something touched on later.
> 
> Also I noticed randomly that Juleka's dress was really similar to how Chat's outfit was cut, and was trimmed with his green, and so that became the birth of her commissioning a Chat Noir inspired dress from Marinette. With her being a fan of his, it wouldn't be that far of a stretch. Also the blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to Juleka/Rose will be expanded on in the Reflekta chapter. This is pre-relationship area here, people.
> 
> And yes, it may become painfully obvious before long that I don't actually spend any time on social media. I do not have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, tumblr, none of it. The last social media account I had was a rarely used LiveJournal back when that was the big thing that everyone was on. I only got my first cellphone a little over a year ago because I needed it for practicum, and I never use it. I don't think I've even sent one text on it. I am very strange in this day and age, I get it. But I also know that for most teens these things are how they communicate so now you have to put up with my attempts at emulating it. Sorry.
> 
> Oh, but the Instagram accounts are real. Those are the official accounts made to belong to all the main characters of the show, except Nino who is apparently like me and just doesn't bother with that stuff. *shrug*


	11. Dessinateur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel wants to become his best self to get the girl of his dreams, but Chloe cruelly reveals his feelings for her prematurely, resulting in his akumatization and his forcing his crush out on a date with him that a certain cat-boy happens to be chaperoning. 
> 
> \-----
> 
> “I will be recording this conversation for later consultation, but your words will not go any further than myself, so you needn't worry about saying anything embarrassing. I'm fully aware that some of these questions are invasive and may bring up memories that are uncomfortable to relive, but I assure you it is for a good cause. That being said, to prevent Papillon from catching on to any clues he may be giving Milady and myself, I request you don't divulge the information that I came to speak with you to anyone, alright? It's for the safety of yourself and your loved ones as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who couldn't tell by the chapter description, this is the Evillistrator episode. However, I had some... issues with how the Marichat was handled in this episode, so I've at least partially rewritten all of their interactions to something a little more... nice to each other?
> 
> Also, Marinette questions her feelings towards her potential suitors and the meaning and extent of consent. Every girl out there ought to be able to relate to her feelings when facing down that akuma, and any who don't are extremely lucky. The answer to her questions are, quite simply, that consent requires mentally sound decisions that can not be forced, coerced, or assumed. Consent can be reversed at any point in time for any reason. One can not give consent under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Anything less is not consent, it is harassment, abuse, or rape, no mater what sort of relationship you have with the other person. Marinette's words aren't meant to throw any of that into question, but instead show the mindscape of a thirteen year old child who is being blackmailed into a relationship by threat of harm to herself or others. She is not safe to say no, therefore she is unable to give consent. Chat is a gentleman enough to understand this and tries to support her.
> 
> Also, this episode prompts me to think perhaps Chloe is the one that teaches Adrien puns. Now how would THAT be for a headcanon...

The harsh florescent lights flooded the hallways of Collège Françoise Dupont, the only illumination in the otherwise sleepy city. Marinette's feet pounded against the linoleum floors, breath coming in ragged pants. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Climatika round the corner. Terrified, the blunette shrieked at the top of her lungs, desperate for anyone to hear her, to save her, “HELP MEEEEEE!!!”

She sprinted as fast as she could get her legs to carry her. The stairs were just ahead, if only she could get to them and get down, she had a chance of escaping this death trap they called a collège and making it to safety. Marinette risked another look over her shoulder. Behind her, Climatika still stalked, walking with slow, deliberate steps that needn't rush. She was confident her prey would never successfully escape her. Whipping back around to face forward, Marinette turned just in time to see Lady WiFi step confidently out of their classroom.

The phone-powered akuma grinned cockily as Marinette gasped and came to a skidding halt. The girl trapped between two akuma sank back, terror in her eyes and tried to turn and run again, maybe she could duck into one of the classrooms to hide? Maybe if she was lucky and hid well enough they would loose her and she could sneak out when their backs were turned? Maybe she could escape out a window or--

Her racing thoughts came to a sudden halt by the pause symbol that shot her in the back. A moment later, Climatika encased the girl in a block of her magic ice. The two akuma approached and clasped hands triumphantly. “With this, we've got him for sure!” Climatika announced.

“Not so fast!” a male voice cut across the hallway. Startled, the two akuma turned and looked around for the source of the voice. A moment later their search came to an end as a masked figure dropped down into the hallway from the roof above. 

“You!” Climatika screeched, aiming her umbrella at the new figure. However, with a stylish twirl of his stylus pen, he brought the back of it to the pen to the umbrella drawn on his tablet that was attached to his right arm and began to rub. As he erased the image from the screen, similarly the umbrella in the akuma's hands was rubbed out of existence.

Horrified, Lady WiFi stepped forward, prepared to use her symbols on him, but with a swift flip of the pen and a few hasty lines, a thick Plexiglas box appeared around the villainous pair. Now, with the danger fully dealt with, he turned his attention to their victim, and with careful strokes of his eraser, removed the ice that entrapped her.

Marinette stumbled forward a few steps before catching herself. “Huh?” she asked, confused, as she looked around and took in everything that had changed. Her eyes landed on her saviour and her heart melted, hands coming to her chin as she sighed dreamily. “Oh, Super Nathan! You are my hero!” she exclaimed, before running up to him and burying herself in his chest.

Super Nathan laughed, putting his arms around her comfortingly. “Oh, stop! It was nothing!” he insisted with false modesty.

“I love you so much!” Marinette declared to her hero, eyes sparkling with wonder and adiration.

Super Nathan's demeanor morphed to one of tenderness and compassion. “I love you, too, Marinette. In fact I--”

“Nathaniel!!” Mme Mendeleïev yelled, her hand slamming down on the counter next to the book he had been doodling in.

“Huh!?” he jumped, startled out of his daydream.

“Are you drawing _again_?!” the teacher accused. She grabbed his notebook out from under his hands and held it up judgmentally. “This is not how you will improve your physics average!”

Panicked and blushing at the fact the whole room was staring at him now, Nathaniel stammered out an “I-I'm sorry...” as he reached for his precious artwork. And he was. He knew he shouldn't have been drawing out his fantasies in class, but still... He couldn't really help it. He wanted so bad to become his best self, a self Marinette would fall in love with and would be better than even the popular, handsome model so he would know she would never turn her eyes elsewhere again. 

A superhero, who could save her from the akuma she was so scared of and always keep her safe, was surely someone that a girl like her would fall for. He knew it was illogical for him to suddenly gain all the powers he dreamed up, but hey, accidents happen daily. Not too long ago there was no Ladybug or Chat Noir either. He could for sure suddenly develop powers for some reason, could maybe even manufacture a situation if he were brave enough. And then he could be the guy she could lean on for support, and he'd have worth in her eyes again.

But as he had thought up what sort of guy he should aim to become, he had started drawing. Drawing always helped him to think, it put things in perspective and let him distance himself from problems as he moulded his universe. And sure, maybe the middle of physics class wasn't the best time to be planning his personal growth and his wooing of the girl he liked, but he hadn't meant to get so deep into it while Mme Mendeleïev talked about review for the upcoming test. He couldn't help the moments that inspiration struck.

The teacher huffed, crossing her arms and glaring down her long nose at the red haired boy. “Yes, well, go take a walk to the principal's office to show him your scribbles! Then you will be really sorry!” She ordered, handing him back his notebook and pointing to the door.

Nathaniel flushed at the idea of showing his fantasies to the school principal, but mutely nodded regardless as he scooped his backpack and notebook into his arms. Juleka, his bench partner in the science lab, shot him a sympathetic look, her obviously having realized what he was drawing. Embarrassed, Nathaniel buried his face in his bag, his eyes shut as he plowed down the isle on muscle memory alone. This proved to be a mistake as half way down his left foot collided and entangled with something, sending the boy sprawling to the ground.

There was a loud gasp, a few laughs at his expense, and a very familiar feminine voice exclaiming, “Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry! Are you okay? I didn't realize my bag had fallen over! Oh, this is all my fault! I'm sorry!”

Nathaniel turned and looked up into the round, sky blue eyes of his crush, kneeling down beside him as she frantically tried to ensure he wasn't hurt anywhere. “I-I'm okay,” he tried to assure her, picking up his backpack and stuffing in the things that had slid out. It was about that moment that he realized his notebook wasn't with the rest of his things. In fact, it had slid to the foot of none other than Chloé's chair, and she was in the process of picking it up.

He froze in terror, knowing for a fact that she was one person who would revel in the chance to humiliate any student in the school, save perhaps Adrien. And she had in her hands the very treasure trove of his insecurities and introspection to the very most secret part of his heart and soul. She flipped it open to the page his pencil had been jammed in the crease of, the page he had last been drawing, on which his ideal self and Marinette confessed their love for one and other. 

And of course—of course, how could it go any other way—Chloé got that malicious smile on her face and declared loudly enough for the whole room to hear, “Oh, look, Sabrina! He drew himself as a superhero! And look! Look! The one he saves is Dupain-Cheng!” Her tone took on a ridiculing air as she turned to the girl that had been helping the artist to his feet and all but laughed, “He is madly in love with you, Marinette!!”

Marinette gasped in shock, flinching back from a crimson Nathaniel on instinct as he bolted over and ripped the book from Chloé's hands, not even caring that his last page where the confession was drawn was ripped out as he fled from the room in shame amid the snickers of his classmates.

“Alright, alright, settle down all of you! Enough of this melodrama nonsense! This is class time! Marinette, back to your desk and store your bag properly before you cause someone to bash their skull in by tripping over it!” Mme Mendeleïev barked, as usual the teacher who was infamously strict.

Marinette sank back into her spot, looking mortified and confused as Chloé dangled the love confession picture at her when the teacher turned her back. Nathaniel liked her? But why? Since when? She had thought he had thrown her away a few years ago like everyone else did when he suddenly stopped talking to her! And what did she feel towards him? Was he a friend? Could she see him as something more? She didn't know, she had never tried, the only boy she had ever had those sorts of thoughts about before were Adrien and oh god Adrien saw all that would he think she was dating Nathaniel now and not be interested in her would he think less of her for turning Nathaniel down would he think she was just a jerk that didn't care about others even though the only person she ever felt anything for was him and he was the only one she wanted to have that kind of relationship with and what would she even say to Nathaniel anyway he hardly talked to her these last few years it wasn't like they were close anymore and she doesn't really know the current him and--

Suddenly she felt a hand rubbing at her back, her eyes flickering over to see Alya's worried face as she whispered, “Breathe, Marinette. Just breathe. It's okay, I'll listen to whatever you have to say after class. Until then, just breathe.”

~*~

The light of the opening window cascading into Le Papillon's lair caused the many dozens of little white butterflies to take flight in a flurry of little white wings. “Embarrassment... heartbreak... shame... regret... A perfect target for the taking!” he held out a hand, letting a butterfly land upon it before cocooning it in his hands and filling it with dark energy. “Fly away little akuma… Accomplish my dark designs!”

~*~

“For this group project I will be assigning you to teams of three. I'll expect the presentation to be a minimum of five minutes with a maximum of ten to take place on Friday. I'll have a sign up sheet posted on my door outside my classroom so that you can choose your time slot to present. It will be first come first serve, so if you want a certain spot be sure to apply immediately,” Mme Mendeleïev was saying to the students.

The series of groans she received at this announcement had no affect on the strict woman who had been dealing with teens for decades. 

“Group one will consist of Ivan, Mylène, and Alix. Group two will be Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel—do be sure to pick up an extra copy of the outline for him when you leave. Group three will be Adrien, Nino, and Alya.”

“So lucky!” Marinette whispered in Alya's ear.

“Group four will be composed of Sabrina, Chloé and Marinette.”

“Oh...” Marinette moaned, head dropping into her folded arms.

“So unlucky…” Alya sympathized, patting Marinette's back comfortingly.

“Excuse me, Madame!” Chloé called, hand in the air. “Could you put _her_ in a different group? Sabrina and I both work much better--”

“In life, Chloé, you will find you have to work along side individuals who you do not get along with. It is part of being a mature adult. Consider this practice for that,” Mme Mendeleïev cut her off before she could begin arguing. 

“My Papa will hear about this...” the heiress grumbled under her breath, arms crossed and pout prominent.

However the teacher ignored her antics, she knew how to handle entitled parents. “Max, Kim, you will have to present first and work with Florian Tremblay from my homeroom class, as he has a doctor's appointment that morning and so will be coming in for those first ten minutes to present with the two of you.”

“No problem, Mme M!” Kim responded, giving the woman a thumbs up, knowing better than to try and argue.

~*~

In the locker room, Chloé dug through her locker. “It kills me, Sabrina. I don't have time to work with you on the presentation, Papa's having another press event tonight and I have to be there to show my face supporting him.” She slammed her locker shut in frustration. “Besides, now you have the disaster girl to help you! She gets decent grades, so as long as you don't let her touch anything important, I'm sure she would do fine gathering research materials.”

“Of course, Chloé, you can count on us! We'll get the job done so you can focus on helping your papa with his campaign,” Sabrina assured.

On the other side of the room, Marinette was begging Alya. “Please let me switch with you!”

“Sorry, girl. I would never be able to get any work done with someone like Chloé. But I promise, I will still totally talk you up to Adrien all project long!” the ombre haired girl tried to appease.

Marinette sighed. “I... alright. I suppose I'd best touch bases with my new partners.” Without any lustre, Marinette turned and started approaching the girl who had been her primary bully for nearly a decade. The girl who lead everyone in making Marinette's life miserable, who made it popular to hate and belittle her, who took every opportunity to degrade and humiliate her. Who she had to spend the rest of the week in close proximity to, working outside school time with, to do a project for the nastiest and strictest teacher in the school. _But hey, at least I'll get talked up to the guy I like..._ she tried to look on the bright side.

As she approached, she noticed Chloé was clearly packing up to leave. “...Is everything alright?” she asked of her bully and her bully's primary supporter cautiously.

Chloé let out a noise of frustrated exasperation. “Of course, leave us alone!”

“But we're supposed to be working on our presentation,” Marinette pointed out. “Why are you packing up to leave?”

“That doesn't concern you, nosy little...!” Chloé snipped.

“Well since I'm part of this group, yes! It does concern me!” Marinette argued. 

“It's going to be fine Marinette,” Sabrina stepped in, insisting. “You can compile the research, I can write the actual report, and Chloé can be the one who presents everything! That way, it all balances out.”

“It doesn't balance anything at all! Is that how you two always work?” Marinette demanded, refusing to let the subject go.

“It's fine, Marinette, Chloé is just very busy. I help her out with her homework, sure, but helping each other is what friends are for!” Sabrina insisted.

“What does a friendless loser like you know about any of this? Come on, Sabrina!” Chloé demanded, turning and beginning to walk away.

Marinette, however, took hold of Sabrina's shoulder, stopping her from leaving. “Sabrina... Chloé is completely abusing your kindness. You don't have to obey all of her orders! This is not how a true friend behaves!”

Chloé reached out and yanked Sabrina away like a greedy child pulling a toy from another one. “So, not only am I her best friend but I'm her only friend. So she has a vested interest in obeying me, because without me she is nothing.”

“If I only had you as a choice of friends, I'd still rather be alone!” the blunette sneered in disgust.

“Well, good thing for you, then, that I don't associate with disasters like you,” Chloé countered.

Marinette was about to fire off another retort when a very familiar voice broke into their conversation. “Chloé, can I have a word with you privately?” Adrien asked, tone light and model smile on his face.

The three arguing girls looked at the new arrival and Chloé instantly melted into a sweet, accommodating mask. “Of course, Adrichou! Though we will have to keep this quick, as I've an appointment with Jean-Claude's magic scissors to fix these god awful split ends!”

“It shouldn't take long,” Adrien assured as he lead his childhood friend away.

“Split ends?! She wants to dump us with all the school work over split ends!?” Marinette seethed, not even bothering to worry about keeping her voice down.

“But, her appearance is important,” Sabrina tried to explain.

“Not important enough to cost yours and my grades! If she wants to send her own grades down the toilet, fine, whatever, that's _her_ business, but the moment she is connected to you or me or anyone else and doesn't put in the same level of work as the rest of us, that's not okay!” Marinette raged.

Sabrina flinched back, looking nervous. “W-well, that...”

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Sabrina, how often do you do her homework for her?”

“Well, I'm really smart, and she's so busy...” the glasses girl began.

“Sabrina...”

“...And it's not like she doesn't do things for me in return. She lets me borrow her clothes all the time...!”

“That doesn't make up for her using you!”

“Last month, she bought me this really cute bag...” Sabrina tried again.

“How many hours a week do you spend doing work for her? How often when you two hang out is it to do something you wanted to do? How often is it for something she wants to do?” Marinette pressed, holding Sabrina steady with her hands on her shoulders.

“I-I don't really know anything... that I--” Sabrina admitted, ashamed.

“Because she's the only one dictating your relationship! She even tried to make you take the fall for her over the whole thing with my diary last week! Sabrina, open your eyes, that's not how a friend treats another friend!” the blunette pleaded.

Sabrina looked down, lower lip quivering. “But... without Chloé, I'm just a boring nobody that nobody wants to even talk to...”

“You only think that because she wants you to. People like her lie to you and tell you things to make sure you never have the strength to leave, so they can keep abusing you,” Marinette insisted. With teary eyes, Sabrina looked at the French-Asian girl. “Come on, let's go work on the project together and you can think through everything at your own pace.”

~*~

Nathaniel walked down the hallway from the principal's office with his head down. He had spent the last part of his day listening to a lecture about paying attention in class and how personal hobbies were for personal time and all that, but he didn't care. Chloé outed his crush to the whole class. _Marinette_ knew about his crush when he wasn't even a better person yet. Now she would be embarrassed and not want anything to do with him anymore, no matter how much he managed to change himself. All his hopes were ruined.

He pulled his notebook in closer to his chest, as if the action could hold his feelings and dreams in his life a little bit longer. However, the motion got the clip on his pencil caught against his shirt and pulled it out of his book. He heard more than saw it clatter to the ground, and so paused to turn and pick it up. It was as he was bent over, lifting the object from the ground, that he spotted the black and purple shape land on the other end of his art equipment and felt the world fade.

“ _I am Le Papillon, a great lover of art. You, an artist wronged by the mockery of others, scorned by the girl you pine for, but as they say, the greatest art is derived from the greatest misery. I come to offer you the gift to truly create the greatest works of art in existence, but if you accept, it will be necessary to pay the price: I would like to recover two jewels which I hold dear._ ”

“Just tell me what you want,” Nathaniel agreed.

~*~

Adrien split off from Chloé as they entered the library. After the talk they had about the inappropriate way she behaved in regards to Nathaniel, who she had insisted she hadn't meant to be hurtful towards and was just expressing adoration for his superhero artwork, and her revealing his crush on Marinette was just because she thought it was cute and that they complimented each other well. They had then moved on to her helping him arrange a little time after school for the group project, which they had to get Mme Mendeleïev to back them up on by promising Nathalie an email about the project from her official school email account.

After that was established and the model had been granted twenty minutes in the library for research, they had hurried off. He had managed with puppy-dog eyes to convince Nino and Alya to do their report on gravity. While they were looking up Newton and his apple, Adrien's mind was whirling with all the facts about gravity that he had learned so far in the astronomy books Chloé had begrudgingly donated a corner of her room for. Masses and densities of planetary bodies, orbital patterns, even black holes... He was just browsing the shelves, looking for any astronomy books that he might be able to take out and read on the pretense of researching his project, when he overheard Chloé getting into an argument with her partners.

“What do you mean you won't be doing my work for me?” Chloé's indignant voice reached him, causing Adrien to look around the corner of the bookshelves to observe.

“Marinette is right! I'm not your slave!” Sabrina argued back. 

Stuck between the two quarrelling girls was the blunette in question, with her hands over her ears and looking rather regretful at not letting sleeping dogs lay. “Er, that's not exactly what I said...” the baker's daughter tried to excuse herself from the conflict.

“But Marinette didn't just buy a new beret from Gabriel, whereas I did,” Chloé tried to bribe, pulling the hat she was intending to wear at the rally this evening out of her bag to show it off. “I _could_ let you borrow it...”

“Now wait a second, are you really trying to buy her friendship with a beret?” Marinette asked incredulously.

“Oh la la! It's so beautiful, and I'm sure it would make me look so good!” Sabrina gushed, hands clasped and stars in her eyes.

“No!” Chloé barked. “Wait a moment, Marinette, you're the one that's trying to steal my friend with this stupid—Eeek!” suddenly, out of nowhere, a shower of berets rained down from the sky on Chloé's head. “My _hair_!” she shrieked, trying to shield her head.

A giant black blow dryer suddenly materialized into existence, hovering above the girl's table, nozzle trained on the heiress. She didn't waste time thinking, she bolted, screaming and begging “No! Have mercy! Mercy!” as it hovered after her, blowing and ruining her hair with both the wind and the intense heat.

That was all Adrien needed to see to know an akuma was on the loose, so he ducked back to a secluded spot between the shelves. “Plagg, transform moi!” A flash of green light later and Chat Noir vaulted over the bookshelves, his feet striking the blow dryer off its path and letting Chloé scamper out of the corner she had gotten herself caught in.

Marinette, seeing her chance to slip away as everyone ogled the cat-boy, hid herself as well before opening her purse and letting Tikki free. “Our turn. Tikki, transform moi!” Once the pink light faded, Ladybug took to the top of the bookshelves to survey her surroundings, finding Chat to be taking leaps at the flying care product like a cat trying to catch a toy being waved above their head.

Realizing quickly that his method wasn't really going to do anything, she jumped into action, lassoing the nozzle of the hair dryer and leaping atop it like it were a bucking bronco. “Oh no you don't! Oh!” she cried as her ride sped off after the blond girl regardless.

“Heard it was getting hot in here. It looks downright mind-blowing!” Chat snarked as he jumped up atop a shelf to enjoy the view better.

Struggling to get the hair dryer under her control, Ladybug called out in annoyance, “Help me instead of making jokes!” As she requested, Chat took a flying leap with his staff, trying to strike a downward swing to the back of it, behind where Ladybug was perched. The blow dryer sped up and swerved suddenly, causing the cat-boy to miss and strike the floor of the library instead, leaving a splintering web of cracks along the tile. 

Ladybug then wrapped her legs fully around the nozzle of the blow dryer, squeezing it between her thighs so she knew she had a good hold, and unhooked her yo-yo, throwing it out at one of the building's support beams and letting the dryer spin them around it until they neared the ground. She then quickly unhooked her legs and instead kicked down on the offending object, grinding it into the floor until it finally came to a stop. With a flick of her wrist, her yo-yo zipped back to her hand while Chat Noir came to land at her side, staff crushing the remains of the dryer which then dissolved into blue flecks of light.

Chat heard a faint noise of frustration, only audible because of his heightened senses, and turned quickly towards it. There he spotted what had to be the akuma, standing with pen poised over a tablet on the second floor. “Wow! This guy has a hell of a stroke!”

He leapt into action even as Ladybug turned to follow his line of sight. The akuma, realizing he had been discovered, surprisingly turned and ran instead of starting in on wanting their Miraculous or any other raging monologue. He ducked into a narrow walkway as the heroes landed behind him and took after him at a full run. Turning quickly he drew a rectangle on his tablet and a wall of Plexiglas appeared before the duo unexpectedly, causing them to run face-first into it and topple over each other. 

By the time they had pulled themselves up from the ground, the akuma was nowhere to be seen. “Where did he go?” Ladybug asked, turning to her partner. His ears were already twitching around atop his head as he tried to find any trace of noise that could direct him to the akuma's location. Unfortunately he found none.

“I don't know! But he is very good at illustrating his ideas...” Chat admitted with a shake of his head, rapping a knuckle against the barrier.

~*~

Standing in the middle of Chloé's sitting room in his suit was kind of a new experience for Chat Noir. He couldn't help but feel this would be great. He could spend the afternoon hanging out with his best friend and his Lady at the same time, they could all get to know each other a little better, and when he introduced them outside the mask, they'd already have a bond and could become fast friends. But, at the same time, he had to remind himself constantly that he had to keep up a professional front, he couldn't just relax and lounge across her sofas like he normally would. She also had up her barriers towards himself, something she rarely did when they were in her room outside of the mask. 

“I have the impurression that this akuma is after you in particular, Chloé. Do you know why that could be?” Chat asked, unable to completely quell his worry over his childhood friend. This was—what, the second? Third?--akuma to target his childhood friend. Could Papillon perhaps have a grudge against Chloé or her father?

Chloé looked up from the paper she had been working on for the last several minutes, her eyes widening in confusion and shock. “Huh? No! Everyone loves me!” she insisted.

“Yes, of course, you're just soooo adorable,” Ladybug said sarcastically. Chat eyed Ladybug, that strange tingle of unease that he recalled feeling back during their stake out of Lady WiFi flooding to the front of his mind again. Like the atmosphere in the room was awkward or something. 

But before he could process the feeling, Chloé let out an excited shriek. “Ladybug said I was adorable!” she gushed, having a full on fangirl moment over the superheroine. She jumped from where she was sitting and ran over to throw her arm around Ladybug's neck, pulling out her phone. “Come on! We both have to take a selfie.”

As soon as the camera flashed, Ladybug brushed her arm off and pulled away, getting up from where she had been sitting and walking to a different part of the room. “Oh god...” she grumbled. Was that what was causing Ladybug to act so oddly? Did she not appreciate the idea of having such an ardent fan? Chat could understand how it might make her feel put off, but the way she was acting was rather unprofessional.

“Well I'm beautiful, as always, but you don't look so good,” Chloé pointed out, looking critically at the image. This isn't something she could post to social media, it would paint her idol in a poor light and that was unacceptable. In that case, there was only one thing to do. “Come on! We're redoing it!” she declared, jumping over and taking another picture.

“Sorry I'm a little allergic to selfies,” Ladybug grumbled, extracting herself from Chloé's grasp, looking clearly annoyed.

Feeling the need to lighten the mood, Chat came over to where Ladybug had stormed off to. “Looks like you have an admirer!”

“Yes, super!” the spotted heroine all but snapped out. 

Chat was taken aback by this. This was clearly not how someone in their position should deal with their fans, and he briefly wondered if he should offer his Lady publicity lessons, but thought better of it a few moments later. Letting it be known that he already knew how to deal with press and fans would not be good for his secret identity, and she would get mad at him for the clue, even if he did really want her to find him as soon as possible. Instead he opted for a little less direct of an approach. “Oh come on, where is the purroblem? Why are you taking it like that? Admit it's purretty flattering, right? This girl is a huge fan of yours.”

Ladybug lowered her gaze in a sulk at her partner's words. Honestly, what was so bad about not wanting to be associated with a well-documented bully? Especially when said bully happened to be _her_ bully? But her lowered gaze landed on the paper Chloé had been focusing on when they had all settled in for their talk. She recognized it nearly at once, it was the confession image that Chloé had been mocking her with earlier in class, but over her civilian face Chloé had inked in thick glasses, a goatee and curling moustache. 

Ladybug's blood boiled as she picked the picture up to take a better look. Not only did she invade Nathaniel's privacy, not only did she rip a page out of his sketchbook and steal it, not only did she use it to mock Nathaniel and herself about his feelings towards her, but she then went and vandalized the art she stole by scribbling insulting things all over it?! If this was how Chloé showed she was a fan of hers, Ladybug could do without, thank you very much! “No! This is a joke! I'm done! I'm leaving!” 

Chat was startled by her sudden declaration. He followed her out onto the balcony, floundering. “What?! Wait, are you kidding? What if the akuma comes back to attack her?” What was going on? Was it something he had said? Why was his Lady acting so unreasonable all of a sudden?

“Well, that's what you're here for! Bye!” she snapped as she stormed out the glass doors and prepared her yo-yo to swing off.

“What do you _mean,_ 'bye'?!” he called after her as she jumped up on the railing and picked an anchor point in the distance.

“Well, since you want to protect her _so badly,_ I'll just leave it to you! So: 'bye'!” she declared, letting her yo-yo fly and swinging off before he had a chance to say anything more.

Chat watched her swing away feeling hurt and betrayed. This was unbelievably unprofessional of her, to act like this just because this fan of hers had dressed up like her in the past. Chat put his face in his hands and rubbed at his eyes in frustration. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't get mad at her. She was the love of his life, and if he fought with her like this then she'd never accept his feelings for her in return. Yet Chloé was his friend, and Ladybug's behaviour towards her was just so unfair, he didn't know how to reconcile the facts.

But he couldn't... couldn't dislike something about his Lady, she was supposed to be his universe. What was wrong with him? He replayed the last few things said between them, searching for where it had gone wrong. Then an idea came to him. Ladybug had seen him watching Chloé before, and now she was picking up on his concern for her. Could it possibly be that Ladybug was jealous of the attention he was paying his childhood friend? She had no way of knowing their relationship, after all, so if it bugged her that he behaved so familiarly with his fellow blond...

“Hey, Ladybug? ...Oh, where did she go?” Chloé asked, looking around confused as she stepped out onto the terrace behind him. 

Chat Noir turned, putting up his best PR front and stamping down his own discomfort and insecurities. “Oh, she just had some things to take care of. Don't worry, Chloé, I'll be staying here to watch after you.”

Chloé's face fell into hurt dejection. “But... I didn't even get to say goodbye...”

~*~

Ladybug landed in the alleyway only a block from her house and dropped her transformation. She couldn't believe the gall of that stuck-up, pompous, rude... “Ugh! That brat!” she raged as she stomped the rest of the way to the bakery. She looked at the picture still clutched in her hand, and another wave of righteous fury shot through her for Nathaniel's sake. Earlier today, when his crush on her had been revealed, she had been mortified, but now, all Marinette felt was rage at the blond bully that revelled in such misery.

Nathaniel was a nice boy! He was shy, quiet, and a bit of a push over, sure, but he was also kind, and gentle, and empathetic towards others! Kind of... a bit like Adrien in that way? Now that she had some distance and a bit of time to think, would dating a guy like Nathaniel be so bad? When they had been close to each other in the past, it had been fun. They had always been laughing and expressing themselves, and they had quite a bit in common, both being artists who favoured drawing human figures. He lacked confidence, but so did she, and he apparently liked her, which was more than she could say about any other guys in her life. 

And if she didn't care for him at all, would she be so angry at Chloé for humiliating him like that? She entered the bakery worrying about her own heart and fuming at the blond bully. “Welco—Marinette? You're home late, were you out drawing again? You look upset, what's wrong?” the part time worker manning the front counter asked.

“Ugh! Mitchel! It was horrible! Chloé was bullying this boy in my class today—who apparently has a crush on me?—and ripped his sketchbook, and then the Dragon Lady put me in a team with Chloé and her stooge Sabrina for a group project, and Chloé ditched all the work on us, and then an akuma attacked her, and I barely got away!” Marinette rambled out, barely taking a breath.

Mitchel came around front of the counter and put a concerned hand on her shoulder. “Oh my god, Marinette, are you okay? Sabine is at the store right now, should I call her to have her pick you up anything?”

Marinette shook her head. “I'm okay. I hid and didn't come out for a long time. I think Ladybug and Chat Noir lost the akuma, though, because that ladybug light didn't fix anything. I just... I just want to...” Suddenly, Marinette remembered the project that they had been working on, and the fact she had inadvertently left Sabrina with all the workload. “Oh no! Sabrina! I'm sorry, Mitchel, I can't help out today, I have _so much homework_!” she cried as she pushed past him and ran up the stairs.

“Oh god, oh god, I hope she isn't too mad at me! I didn't mean to ditch her like that...” Marinette muttered to herself as she scrambled up the stairs to her room. 

“Well, by these series of texts,” Tikki teased, having unlocked Marinette's phone and was scrolling through the long, long list of missed messages, “I'd say it looks like you just got yourself a new best friend!”

The blunette looked at the list with a rather disturbed expression. The last thing she needed was a super clingy friend eating up all her time and hounding her when she had to be Ladybug. However, Marinette had barely taken the phone in her hands, flopping to her chaise lounge as she scanned through the list and tried to figure out what she was going to do about this, when she heard Tikki let out a gasp and dive for cover under one of her throw pillows.

“Tikki? What--?” she began, rolling over to try and see what had given her little kwami a startle, only to see a pair of legs and a torso standing on the ledge outside her window. Marinette let out a scream at the sight of her window being rubbed out of existence and the akuma from the library stepping into her room.

The akuma froze, looking a little startled as she scrambled to her feet and started inching towards her trap door. “I-it's you! The akuma from the library! Wh-what are you doing here?!” she panicked. Had he found out she was Ladybug? Was he here to attack her and take her earrings while she was defenceless? 

“I just wanted to see you,” the akuma insisted, holding his hands up in a soothing gesture.

Marinette still sank back, making herself as small and harmless looking as she could. “Bu-but you were attacking Chloé...”

“Because she's mean and selfish!” the akuma suddenly snapped, eyes flashing cold and hard with the rage.

The blunette yelped, flinching inwards and starting to shake slightly at the show of aggression. “I-I'm sorry!” she squeaked on reflex. The akuma, realizing what he had done, sank back in shame. “A-are you... going to a-attack me, too, now?”

“ _You_?” the akuma asked in shock, before stepping up and dropping to a knee before the cowering girl. He reached out and took one of the hands she clutched in front of her chest, forcing it away from her body so he could encase it between his own. “You are Marinette! You are so sweet, so pretty, so perfect! I could never hurt you.”

Marinette stared a moment in open-mouthed shock as she took in what the akuma had just said, and what such a declaration actually meant. First Chat Noir with his endless flirting, then Nathaniel this afternoon, and now this random akumatized boy, all showing her of all people romantic interest, when the only one she actually wanted was Adrien. But while she was unsure how exactly she felt about Nathaniel, and she was pretty sure Chat Noir was just playing around and was being an endless flirt, she was rather positive she didn't want to pursue romance with the likes of an akuma. And yet, turning it down was likely not the safest of plans, and would probably result in it lashing out at her with an attack.

“I-uh...” she began, forcing herself to breathe normally and not devolve into a full on panic attack. “Wow! This is… really… uh… flattering!” Marinette forced a smile through her nerves, trying to sound as sincere as possible. “Thank you.”

“I just came to ask you if... um... well...” the akuma stopped stroking her hand to free his own in order to fidget. “It's my birthday today and... would you come to my party?”

Marinette's heart sank, how would she get out of this one? Should she mention she was in love with someone else? No, that would just make Adrien a target. She had to think up another way. “Oh, uh… well actually, it's not really a good time. You see, I have to work on a presentation and uh... I have to call my friend so we can work and uh...” she babbled out an excuse.

“Oh please Marinette! There will only be you and me!” he pleaded, making her feel even more awkward. A party for two seemed an awful lot like a date, and going anywhere alone and secluded with an akuma of all things seemed like a very dangerous idea. Who knew what it would do to her.

Sensing her reluctance, the akuma quickly scribbled something on his tablet, resulting in the formation of a small white card that he held out to her. Taking it cautiously, the small teen looked at it, finding a hand-drawn picture of her from the bust up, a birthday cake, and a head-shot of the akuma. “Gosh!” she exclaimed, because she recognized that artistic style. From out of her pocket she fished the torn out comic page, confirming it was the same art style. And now that she was looking closer, it was clear even the akuma was inspired off the hero from the artwork. “...Nathaniel?”

“No!” the akuma raged, causing the blunette to flinch back again. “I am Dessinateur! Nathaniel was weak willed and spineless! He didn't have the guts to confess his feelings to you, he didn't have the backbone to stand up for himself against a bully, he wasn't someone worthy of this new you that you've been becoming! But I am! I'm finally someone worthy of being at your side, Marinette! Don't you see? Le Papillon gave me these powers and helped me become my best self, and as my best self I want to be with you...”

Marinette flushed, touched by the confession Nathaniel—or Dessinateur—had just given. Yet a moment later, she averted her gaze sadly. “But... it was the kindness and gentleness in Nathaniel that I liked. But now, you're going around and hurting people, and even if Chloé deserves it, it's just not right! I hate fighting and violence, I-I can't...” A knot of fear developed in the young designer's throat, could she really turn him down? Would he get angry and hurt her if she tried? Would he force her anyway? 

However, Dessinateur merely looked down in introspection. “You'll go out with me... if I leave Chloé alone?”

Marinette hesitated for a moment more, on the one hand, she didn't want to date an akuma at all. If this was just Nathaniel, she might consider it to test out her feelings for him, but a twisted monster made to serve a terrorist? But on the other hand, she was Ladybug, and it was her duty to protect the civilians of Paris—even the rotten ones like Chloé—at the sacrifice of herself. If she went along with this, not only would Chloé be kept safe, but if the akuma lowered it's guard around her, she might have the chance to steal his akumatized item and free him from Papillon's control. “I... yes,” she finally relented. 

Dessinateur's face lit up with a grin. “Okay! I promise you!” he declared, quickly drawing a jetpack that appeared on his back. “Meet at the Pont de l'Archevêché, near Notre-Dame, at sunset!” With that said, he flew out her window and left the blunette to herself.

Marinette flopped back onto her chaise with a sigh as a disgruntled Tikki flitted out to confront hir holder. “Marinette! What were you thinking, agreeing to go on a date with an akuma!”

Marinette just heaved another sigh, blinking dispondantly. Her first date... She had wanted it to be with Adrien, the boy of her dreams, not with some akuma that was forcing her. Would she be made to have her first kiss tonight? Would she be forced to give up something more? Did this make her a prostitute, selling her body to someone she doesn't love for the safety of someone else?

“How is Ladybug supposed to purify the akuma if Marinette is on a date with it?”

Wait, no, she'd be more like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, sacrificing her self so another could go free. Only she didn't care anywhere near as much about Chloé as Belle did about her father. Would anything done to her tonight count as rape, seeing as she agreed to go to the party? Even though she really didn't want to? But what choice did she have, it wasn't like he was listening when she tried to tell him 'no'!? 

“You should go back to that Chloé girl's house and continue to stand guard over her! Dessinateur will surely appear there again if you do!”

She wanted it to be Adrien. Kind, patient, understanding, gentle, caring Adrien. Sunshine Child Adrien. The boy she went on her first date with. The boy she gave her first kiss to. The boy she one day gave even more to. She wanted it all to be him. She didn't want it taken from her, but what choice did she have? If she said no, if she didn't show up, who knows how the akuma would target her, or if it couldn't find her then her family, in retaliation. She was scared. She just wanted to curl up and be held until she felt safe. 

“...I need my Chat...” Marinette admitted at last.

~*~

Chat Noir tiptoed over to the desk sitting in the corner of Chloé's room, where a shelf above it was lined by astrophysics books. It had been a few weeks since they had last spent time in her room when they weren't actively seeking out each other's attention, and he was beginning to miss his book collection. He pulled down the one with the fold-out to-scale diagram showing off the solar system and was just starting to flip to it when he heard Chloé's unmistakable shriek from behind him.

Turning quickly, green cat-eyes met a glaring ocean blue. “Hey! You can't touch that! Those are my Adrichou's books! You'll ruin them with your dirty paws and those claws of yours!”

“Chloé...” Chat sighed, giving her his best tolerant-yet-exasperated look.

“Don't you give me that! Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! You're obviously some alley cat! No manners at all!” she went off on him. He sighed and put the book back. He was a stranger invading her room, even if he was technically also her childhood best friend. Though because of that, now that it was just the two of them, it was hard to remember not to just treat her casually. 

Before he managed to say anything beyond a quick apology, however, Chloé's phone rang and so he stepped away to the window to give her the semblance of privacy, even though his enhanced hearing could pick up both ends of the conversation. “Hey, Sabrina, you won't believe the afternoon I'm having!”

“ _I'm watching the live footage of your papa's rally, and you're not there?_ ” Sabrina's voice confirmed.

“No, because of that akuma who was targeting me earlier, I've been put into lock down with that mangy street cat. Ladybug was here, earlier, but she apparently had to leave on business.”

“ _Oh, good, then you have plenty of time to take care of your part of the research!_ ”

“What? But I don't want to. Physics is boring!”

“ _Well, that's too bad! I've sent you the outline of the parts that each of us are to work on that me and Marinette agreed upon. And I sent a copy to the teacher so she'll know who to put the blame on if you don't do your part and me and Marinette won't be punished for it!_ ”

“ _What_?!” Chloé screeched in disbelief, only to find that she had been hung up on. “Ugh! Can you believe that Sabrina?! She is too selfish! She dares to force me to work!” After fuming for a minute or so, the blond girl actually took out her books and got to work. 

They then sat in relative silence for another five or so minutes before Chloé let out a moan. “Oh… my head hurts,” she whined, flopping back against her couch before remembering that her cat-themed guard had been nosing around Adrien's complex physics textbooks. “Hey... Chat Noir?” she practically purred, sidling up next to him and linking his arm with hers and leaning her head against his shoulder. “You wouldn't by any chance happen to be any good at physics, would you?”

“Eh? Well, yeah, it's my favourite subject after all,” Chat admitted. That wasn't weird, right? Nothing to give away his identity?

“Really? Wow, you must be so smart! I don't get it at all. Would you maybe be willing to help me with some of my homework?” she pleaded, fluttering her eyelashes.

Chat smiled one of his understanding smiles, “Sure, what are you having purroblems with?” 

He let himself be pulled over to where she had been sitting, and sat down himself, lifting her binder into his lap so she had a place to sit. However, she just leaned over the top of the page from where she stood and stated, “This, here,” before turning and walking out onto the porch and making herself comfortable in a lawn chair. It was when she snatched a copy of the Paris Review off her side table and started flipping through it that he looked at her with a scolding expression. She realized a minute later that there was no sound of scribbling pencil on the paper. “Come on, write me something paw-tiful for my presentation... Oh! Did you see? I made a joke with that!” she let out a cute little laugh. “How funny can I be!”

He just stared at her with a look that said he wasn't taking any of her shit. “Get over here, Chloé. Cute jokes aren't going to get you out of this. I said I'd _help you_ , not _do it for you_. Besides, it's not safe for you to be outside right now.”

There was a minute where she tried to stare him down, before she rolled her eyes and got to her feet with a disgusted huff. She was just entering her sitting room when Chat's phone app buzzed on his baton. He got up and walked past her onto the patio, saying “I need to take this,” before closing the glass doors behind him. Once in relative privacy, Chat opened his baton to talk. “You can't just disappear like that and call me like nothing's happened, Ladybug.”

“ _Ah, sorry. That wasn't very nice of me. But you don't have to stay with Chloé any more! I have another job I need you to do instead._ ” 

“Milady, while you know you're the only one for this cool cat, I must stress again the importance of someone being here to protect the Mayor's daughter from the akuma,” Chat reminded. He didn't want to think his Lady would be jealous enough to abandon a defenceless civilian just to keep them apart from each other, and until she said it herself he wouldn't touch on her potential jealousy, but he wanted to reassure her just in case.

“ _Yes, yes, but no. Chloé isn't a target anymore. Here, I'm sending you the picture of the girl I need you to go protect instead. Her name's Marinette, and the akuma approached her after the library incident and promised to leave Chloé alone if she went out on a birthday date with him._ ” 

A sinking pit of dread filled Chat's insides as he pulled his baton away and looked down at the photograph of the smiling girl. It was indeed the sweet and extremely shy baker's daughter that everyone knew was absolutely terrified of akuma. “ _Cute, isn't she?_ ” Ladybug prompted. He didn't quite know what to make of the question. Of course Marinette was adorable, she looked strikingly similar to Ladybug herself. But he didn't know if he should say something about it and risk Ladybug getting jealous all over again or not. When he hesitated to respond too long, Ladybug pressed on with the conversation. “ _Chat? Are you there? I need you to look after her and take advantage of this diversion to neutralize Dessinateur._ ”

“Dessinateur?” Chat echoed. Where had his Lady gotten that name? Did she have a confrontation with the akuma without him?

“ _Oh, yeah, he apparently introduced himself to Marinette. And from everything she said about the interaction, I think the akuma is probably in the pen..._ ”

Oh. Poor Marinette, having to face an akuma all on her own. That would probably leave the poor girl terrified for life. “Right. She's that bakery girl, right? The one by the school the fight happened in today? Yeah, no purroblem. I'll be there. Shall I meet you there, Milady?”

“ _Oh! Uh... I-I'm on an important secret mission! Yeah! I'll join you later! Can you manage without me?_ ”

Chat's brows furrowed at the mention of a secret mission. What could she be talking about? She obviously didn't want him asking into it because of how nervous she suddenly sounded, how quickly she changed the subject. But he wanted to know. Would she be doing something dangerous? Would she be alone? Who had given her this mission in the first place? He had so many questions, but no answers for the moment, and he doubted she would give them to him.

So instead, he forced a grin on his face so his voice would come out more jovially and boasted, “Who do you take me for?” After that, they exchanged their farewells and he hung up. Then, after a moment more to look at the smiling face from the photograph and think the conversation over in his head, Chat turned and went to share the news with Chloé. 

“There you are! You're supposed to be helping me on my physics homework, not chatting on your phone!” she scolded him as he entered the sitting room again. 

“Sorry, Chloé, no can do. That was Ladybug just now and she was calling for me to go watch after someone else,” Chat explained. 

“ _What_?! Bu-but you said...! You said there was an akuma targeting me! You said you'd protect me!” the heiress argued. 

“I know, and there was. But one of your classmates bartered for your safety.”

Chloé lit up at this news. “I _knew_ Sabrina adored me!”

But to this Chat just shook his head. “Sorry, no, the name of the girl is Marinette.”

At this, Chloé looked absolutely gobsmacked for a minute as the fact of the matter seeped in. “But... but Dupain-Cheng is _terrified_ of akuma!”

“Which is why I need to go be there to keep her safe,” Chat prompted, watching the gears turning behind ocean eyes.

After a bit, Chloé finally seemed to pull herself together, wrapping her attitude around herself like a safety blanket. “Well-well of course she did! Class-class representative duties, after all. It's her job to take care of me, now...” She took another few deep breaths, shifting snootily in her seat. “Well? What are you waiting for? I have a project to work on, and you're distracting me! Mangy cat, can't figure out what you should be doing by yourself! It's why Ladybug is always having to order you around! Now, go do your job! Chop chop!”

~*~

The doorbell rang to the bakery's back entrance, the one used by staff and which lead up to the living space above. “Marinette? Can you get that? It's probably Sabine back with the groceries!” Tom called from the ovens where he was busy pounding the dough.

“I'm coming!” Marinette responded, hurrying down the last few steps, only to miss a step and go careening head-first into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Managing to catch herself before she hit her head, she checked tentatively for sprains before deeming herself okay and trotting over to answer the door.

However, instead of finding her mother standing there, she was met with a mop of red hair and glasses. “Oh! Sabrina! I wasn't expecting you...”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I was trying to contact you, did you receive my messages?” Sabrina responded sweetly, a duotang of some sort held behind her back.

“Yes, yes. I saw them. I was _just_ about to call you,” Marinette said, trying to cover her awkwardness behind a polite smile. 

“Really?” the redhead asked, face brightening up. “Oh! I knew you would call me… one day or another… So I did your geography homework,” she announced, holding the duotang out to the other girl.

Marinette stepped back at that, holding her hands up as though to ward the homework off. “Wow, you shouldn't have done that!”

“Oh, for my best friend, it's a pleasure to help.”

“Thanks, but... I can't accept this. It wouldn't be right,” she tried to explain.

“R-really...?” Sabrina questioned, looking pitifully to the blunette.

How, oh how, did people always find the puppy-dog eyes that Marinette couldn't resist? “Okay, okay! Just this once...” she gave in, taking the duotang from the other girl.

Sabrina brightened up at once. “Super! So what time are we meeting to work on our physics presentation?”

“Oooh, I'm sorry, Sabrina...” Marinette said, feeling so ashamed for having to do this. “I have some really important things to sort out tonight...”

Sabrina blinked at this news, before a smile made its way across her lips. “A really important thing, you say? Oh, what a coincidence! Do you know who else used to come up with that excuse?” she bubbled out. 

Marinette blinked at the strange behaviour. “Uh… no… Who?”

And suddenly Sabrina was in her face. “ _Chloé_! In fact you are both _exactly the same_! I bet you expect me to do all the work too, right?”

“No! I really swear to you! It's just that…” 

Sabrina didn't wait for the response, just angrily snatched the duotang back out of Marinette's hands. “When I think I worked all evening on your geography homework…” and with that she turned and stormed away, looking hurt and insulted. 

Marinette floundered, unsure of what she could say to make this situation with Sabrina better. However, before she could make a move to follow, a black shape dropped right in front of her. “Whoa! I thought I was going to have to save you from that girl's claws. Did you get it? The claws…” Chat Noir joked, lifting his hands and kneading at the air with them. At Marinette's astonished, flabbergasted look, he shook himself back to a more professional state of mind. Really, did Ladybug really resemble Marinette so much that he subconsciously acted as care-free and playful with her as he did his Lady? “But I didn't even introduce myself: I'm Chat Noir,” he announced, dropping to one knee to kiss her hand as though pledging his allegiance.

Flustered, Marinette struggled to stop herself reacting like Ladybug would to such an action from the overly flirty cat-boy. “Y-yes... er I-I know... You're the one saving Paris all the time! I'm Marinette, by the way,” she forced a nervous little laugh. “So, erm, what are you doing in the area?”

Hearing the waver in the blunette's tone, Chat's heart went out to her. She was always so scared of akuma, she must be absolutely terrified about tonight. He wondered what could have possessed her to agree to dating an akuma, if perhaps she had feelings for the akumatized victim that prompted her to see through it, but of course, someone like her would be so sweet and selfless as to offer herself up in Chloé's stead. He wanted to at least make her feel safer about the whole thing. “I am going to be your knight in black leather for tonight's ball, Purrincess. Just like with Chevalier Noir, I'll be standing guard to keep you safe. You have nothing to fear while I'm around. I am quite strong after all,” he half-bragged, half-joked, lifting his arms in a strong-man pose to show off his muscles with a wink.

While Marinette really just wanted to roll her eyes and groan at her show-off of a partner—seriously, he was flirting with her civilian form? Hadn't he said just earlier on the phone Ladybug was the only girl for him?!—she didn't want to give herself away. She had to establish herself as significantly different from her alter ego that he was already familiar with, and so she did the most un-Ladybug-like reaction she could think of. “Oh I'm totally reassured!!” Marinette gushed, bringing her hands to her chin and fluttering her eyelashes up at him.

Chat faltered at that a moment. “R-really?” he asked incredulously, before catching himself and going all out on the reassurances. If it helped her, who was putting herself in this rather dangerous situation, then who was he to judge? “I-I mean, of course! You have nothing to fear, I would never let anything happen to you, Purrincess.”

Marinette let out a little titter at that, and Chat's ears swivelled forwards as his brain registered the sound. He knew that sort of laugh, it was the sort of over-excited laugh that was made by a fan when paid special attention by the object of their devotion. Honestly, Chat hadn't been expecting that. Given the #WhosYourHero results and what he knew of Marinette's personality, he had honestly expected her to be more of a Ladybug fan. But he supposed the appeal of a strong, masculine protector, willing to risk life and limb to fight the akuma, might have it's charm to a girl as shy and scared as Marinette.

Realizing he could make this evening at least a little special to his fan who stared up at him with those wide, sky blue eyes, who was willing to put herself at risk in order to help them despite having no powers or enhanced suit to protect her, he leaned his weight into the frame of the doorway she was standing in and took one of her tiny hands in his. “Are you sure you're okay lending me a paw like this?”

Marinette covered her face with her other hand and turned away from him, head lowered between hunched shoulders. He found it oddly endearing that she would go to such lengths to try and hide her reaction from him. “But where's Ladybug? Aren't you a duo?” she asked from behind her muffling hand.

“She has something else to do,” Chat Noir deflected the best he could. “So tonight, if you're willing, _you_ get to be my Ladybug...”

Marinette stiffened at that. How dare he just replace her with the first tittering fangirl he comes across like that?! But forcing on a bright, excited smile, she turned to face the feline hero once more. “Wow! Chat Noir! We're going to save Paris? Oh, that's awesome! What do I have to do?” she asked, laying it on a little thick, but he didn't seem to notice.

“All you have to do is get le Dessinateur's pen away from him. Then, just leave everything else to me, Purrincess. I'll keep you safe until Ladybug can catch up and purify the akuma,” Chat assured, turning to leave. “Until then, it would probably be best for you to stay inside where it would be harder for the akuma to get to you.” He gave a two-fingered salute at that, before bounding away.

Marinette just rolled her eyes and laughed. _God, he is so full of himself!_ Well, at least it made him easy to fool.

~*~

The sun was nearly set over the Seine, the last deep reds and oranges reflecting off the water like a stream of fire on which the little boat floated. Dessinateur was hard at work adding the finishing touches to the scene. He wanted it to be perfect, so she would have no further reason to turn him away. His face lit up in a purple mask as a voice filled his mind. “ _It's a very charming picture that you draw there, but don't lose sight of your goal, friend..._ ”

“But I just want Marinette to love me!” the young akuma argued back.

“ _And me, I want the Miraculous! So get them or else..._ ” Pain suddenly surged through Dessinateur, like every nerve in his body was being flayed open at once. An agonizing moment later, the pain subsided and the akuma was left panting for breath. “ _things will become very... uncomfortable for you._ ”

“Okay, I understand! I promise!” he hurried to respond before the pain could start again. The mask faded, and he was left alone once more, trying to plot how he could manage to get the Miraculous while still making an enjoyable date for the love of his life.

It was only a minute later that a shy, sweet voice spoke up behind him. “Happy birthday!”

Turning to look from where he sat perched atop the roof of the cabin, he found none other than the one he had been longing to see trying to make her way on deck from the pier without having one of her infamous accidents. “Marinette!” he greeted happily, jumping down and taking her hand so he could guide her across the gap safely. Once she had made it across to him, Dessinateur just stood a moment and stared at her, taking in the way the last rays of sunset played in her large blue eyes and how the wind gently ruffled at her bangs.

Catching himself when he noticed her expression turn curious and concerned, the akuma smiled down at his date and guided her fully onto the deck where their dinner table had been set up. “I'm glad you came,” Dessinateur said as he tucked her chair in for her.

“Wow, this is all so beautiful,” Marinette said, looking around at all the decorations he had set up. 

“Do you like it? But wait, it's just the beginning!” he expressed, eager to impress her. Jumping back up to the cabin roof where he had been before, Dessinateur prepared himself to draw something truly awe inspiring to win his fellow artist's heart, when the clouds moved in and cut off the light of the moon. He let out a sound of rage and frustration. “Are you serious right now?!” he yelled at the sky.

From where he sat on the rooftops surrounding the Seine, Chat's muscles bunched, preparing to pounce and defend the little girl who had willingly put herself in this dangerous situation. However, her small gasp and look of fear as she recoiled from the raging monster seemed to have been enough to shake Dessinateur back to his senses. “Oh sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!” he insisted, his tone and body language snapping back to gentle so fast it was a little unnerving. “It's just that I have trouble drawing in the dark.”

Marinette watched warily as the akuma moved over to a streetlamp near by instead and drew in a few final details, including their own hovering full moon to light up the deck. It was a truly lovely sight, but his display just now had been a reminder of how dangerous the situation at hand was. But this was a mission, she reminded herself. This opponent was too versatile and slippery to take out by themselves the normal way, so she had to use her civilian self to keep him distracted until she could get her hand on his akumatized item. From there, she'd just have to run, trusting Chat Noir could hold him off until she could get to an alleyway she could duck down and transform unnoticed.

But for now, step one was to get the akuma's guard down. “Wow, amazing!” she gushed, tapping into the artist in her who was simply intrigued by the idea of his power set. He then came to sit next to her at the table and drew up a small feast. 

Marinette, unsure what would actually happen to her if she ate food created by an akuma, and mindful from her parents many warnings about food from strangers and date-rape drugs being slipped into unattended cups, took a moment to look around at everything again as she absentmindedly stirred her soup. The barge they were on had began to drift slowly down the Seine, and as she stared out at the scenery she spotted a figure, black on black, moving from one rooftop to the next. So, she wasn't alone, her partner was watching her back.

“Is the food not to your liking?” Dessinateur cut in on her thoughts.

“Oh, no, it's lovely!” Marinette assured politely. “I was just enjoying all your decorations. You are so talented. I don't understand why you want to use your power to hurt people.”

“No, not people, just Chloé!” he insisted, before shaking the thought away. “But I won't do it any more, it's over. After all, you kept your promise so I will keep mine.”

“Thank you, it means a lot to me that you'd be willing to do that,” Marinette said truthfully. “I know how horrible she can be, but hurting her in an act of revenge isn't the way to solve the problem, especially if doing so means you have to hurt yourself enough to fall victim to someone like Papillon. I worry for you, Nathaniel.” Marinette laid her hand on the artist's to keep his attention fully on herself, so he didn't see Chat Noir slinking along the banister of the bridge up ahead as he got in position to board the boat. Was this it? Was this her chance to grab his pen and run?

However, he unfortunately noticed her eyes trained on his pen. “What is it?” he asked, fist closing around the object suspiciously.

Thinking fast, Marinette explained, “I was just wondering what else you could do with that pen. I mean, it's absolutely amazing, I don't think there's an artist alive that wouldn't be in awe of your abilities...”

Flushing a little at the compliment, Dessinateur decided he wanted to show off a little. “I can make anything!” he declared, quickly scribbling out a bar of music that he drew to wrap around her, about a hand's width from her shoulders, and trailing up and off into the sky. Then he drew on the notes that played a beautiful melody as he placed them on the bars. Intrigued, Marinette reached up with one finger and poked at one of the notes that surrounded her, finding it a sort of solid jelly-type texture that rippled and jiggled out the sound as she tapped it, not unlike pressing a piano key repeatedly.

Letting out an awed giggle, that was less forced than she would have liked to admit, Marinette pressed hopefully. “Can only you make things, or can _anyone_ use it?” When he seemed to hesitate at that, Marinette pushed a little more. “May I... maybe try it? I would really love to have made you something nice for your birthday, but I didn't know in time to get anything done. But if I could draw you something into life...”

At the mention of getting a birthday present from the girl he adored, Dessinateur smiled and erased the music bars that surrounded the blunette before handing her the stylus and holding out his arm. Because of the positioning, Marinette had to cuddle into his side to draw. She drew the first thing that came to mind, a ballroom set she had been fantasizing about for her and Adrien back around the time of the gala. His clothing would have been a smart three-piece tuxedo in green with gold highlights to bring out his eyes, while her dress would have been a full-length fairy tale ballgown in a complementary blue. The design was based loosely off of Belle's iconic ballgown from Beauty and the Beast, with an off the shoulder neckline, pinned above the left armpit with a butterfly representing the Gabriel brand. Then, across her tight bodice, a smattering of her signature cherry blossoms were embroidered in a slightly darker blue, before giving way to a multitude of flowing, ruffling layers that made up the full skirt, peppered with more flowers and butterflies embroidered here and there.

As she finished the last details and looked up, she gasped in wonder at the two outfits hanging on mannequins in the middle of the barge. She almost didn't even have to think about putting distance between her and the akuma now that she had his stylus pen as she jumped to her feet with a squeal of delight and hurried over to the outfits to flit around them and gush over how perfect they were and how they matched what she imagined beautifully.

Dessinateur, however, stiffened the moment the pen got out of his immediate reach, akuma instincts pushing themselves to the forefront of his mind and warring with his desire to see the girl he loved happy. “Marinette,” he prompted, struggling to keep his tone light and friendly, even as the aggression danced in his eyes. “Give me back my stylus.”

Instead, however, Marinette sank back, moving so the mannequins provided her with some measly barricade of cover. “Bu-but...”

“Just give it back, then we can get changed into those pretty clothes you made us, and dance if that's what you'd like,” he insisted, holding a hand out for her to place the stylus back in his palm.

“N-no! This is for your own good!”

“Marinette!” the akuma roared, not even bothering to hide his rage at her actions as he moved to stand and pursue her as she bolted to the bow. However, before he could make a move, a silver pole extended over his shoulder, pinning him to his chair. Looking over his shoulder, Dessinateur spotted Chat Noir standing atop the cabin roof, glaring at the one who would raise their voice threateningly to their date. “Marinette! Are you in cahoots with him?”

“Keep your hands off of her!” Chat hissed down at the akuma.

“I'm so stupid, I thought you liked me! You are exactly like Chloé, sitting there making fun of me! You betrayed me!” Dessinateur raged, ignoring the cat-boy in favour of yelling accusingly at the blunette, who was frantically searching for a means to escape the barge. 

However, at his mention of the blond bully, Marinette stopped searching and whirled on the akuma instead. “What? Oh no! That's _enough_! You take that back right now! _Seriously! Why_ is everyone comparing me to Chloé today?”

As Chat Noir's attention was diverted in shock to Marinette's little blow-up, Dessinateur took advantage of the distraction and kicked the staff away from himself, lunging forward in one clean movement to grab the stylus from the civilian's hand without much trouble, though she did attempt to resist. Chat snarled as the disgusted akuma raised the blunette off her feet and threw her into the mannequins, knocking them over and causing her to let out a small shriek. 

Chat leapt, twirling his now-quarterstaff length weapon over head as he prepared to strike the floating lunar orb from where it hung above the boat's deck, but the akuma saw what he was trying to do and quickly scribbled into existence a box. Feeling the zap of energy surge through him—he had thought he had expelled his bad luck properly before Marinette's arrival, had their date really gone on that long—he found himself trapped within the falling weight, a moment later landing ungracefully atop Marinette who had scrambled to her feet and had been making a desperate lunge towards the stylus once more.

Dessinateur looked down on them with a sneer, “Oh, and of course I won't keep my promise now. I'll teach Chloé a lesson she's not going to forget!” With a few sweeps of his eraser, a large hole was made in the side of the barge, and the akuma leapt away.

Chat Noir, however, wasn't hearing him. His mind was blank to all facts other than that he was trapped. Trapped. No way out. His claws searched for a weakness, anything, a crevice, a seal, but the walls were a shiny surface with no leverage points to afford an escape. He pounded on the wall, trying to break out, but it had no give. It didn't even splinter under the force of his heightened strength. He couldn't get out. Trapped. 

The box was so tiny. Was it always this tiny? Was it getting smaller? Or was that just him? He couldn't breathe. There wasn't enough air. He couldn't breathe. He struck at the walls again with the butt of his staff, but still no luck. He was trapped. Trapped, and he couldn't breathe. Wait, no, he needed to calm down. If he panicked, he'd just waste more of his oxygen. His heart hammered in his ears, making it hard to hear anything else going on. He couldn't breathe. Trapped. 

How much oxygen had he wasted already? How long had he been in here? How much air was left? Did the walls just get closer again? Suddenly something yanked hard on one of the ears atop his head, and Chat's frantic eyes landed on the girl that was trapped in the box with him. Oh god, oh god, oh god. He had forgot about her. He hadn't calculated her presence in the amount of air he had. How much was left? He couldn't breathe. Trapped.

She was saying something to him. Trying to calm him down. Trying to be the rational one. Trapped. It was almost funny, that Marinette would be the calm and rational one. He couldn't breathe. He tried to focus on the sounds of her voice past the rushing blood ringing in his ears. Trapped. Tried to read her lips to help the foggy sound make sense. The walls were closing in. But he couldn't make anything out through his panic, and part of him could tell she understood. She knew what was wrong with him, was surely judging him. Vaguely in the back of his mind he remembered he was supposed to be the one taking care of her. Making sure she didn't get hurt. His Lady would be so disappointed in him. Surely, she would never love him after a poor display like this.

Maybe it would be better to just stay here and suffocate, then?

Seeming fed up with his lack of response beyond blank, wide-eyed staring, Marinette pulled his unresisting hand until the pole in it stood vertically. Propping one end against the deck, she started mashing at the buttons hidden like a paw print on the side of the staff until it began expanding upwards. As Chat was pulled to his feet by the growing length, Marinette threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. Automatically, his other clawed hand curled around her small waste, holding the blunette to himself as his own feet were pulled into the air.

He could breathe again, his mind quickly clearing of the haze of panic with the knowledge that they were free. The answer was so simple, if he hadn't been panicking he would have come up with it himself in mere moments, but he had been. When they had risen plenty far enough, Chat pressed the button to stop their assent and used his body weight to tilt them towards the shore. They all toppled over, the box landing on it's side with the pole sticking out of it to stop it from rolling, and the pair of teens knocking around inside it for a moment before everything stopped.

Chat scrambled out the mouth of the box, crawling on all fours to hack and cough until he felt the air in his lungs was all clean and new. It was then that he finally noticed the hands soothingly rubbing at his back, and the comforting words being murmured just behind him. “Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay now. It's all over. You're alright.”

Chat glanced back at the kind girl who looked on at him with eyes full of worry. His breathing was still a little deeper than normal, but he forced himself to finally address her. “Sorry about that. The truth is, I'm claustrophobic...”

She took in the mix of unease and shame on the cat-boy's face and her heart went out to him. But then, a sudden thought entered her mind. “But wait, didn't you ride the dumbwaiter during your fight against Lady WiFi?”

Chat Noir shook his head. “That was different. Milady needed me. I had to save her.”

Marinette was flabbergasted. That her kitty would willingly put himself in a situation where he was that scared because he was trying to protect her... The girl turned away, unable to deal with this revelation at the moment, and her eyes landed on the sinking ship and the collapsed mannequins thereon. She sighed. “Well, there goes those clothes...”

“It's a shame, that dress would have looked stunning on you. But that suit... something about that colour gives me the impurression it wasn't made with le Dessinateur in mind...?” Chat prompted, shooting the blunette a teasing grin. She was a fan of his—of Chat Noir at least—could she have designed some fantasy outfit with him in mind? The idea was strangely endearing, until he had to slap it down and remind himself that just because they looked similar, Marinette was not his Lady and he needed to see her for herself.

Her eyes flickered up to meet his glowing green ones for only the briefest of moments before she averted her gaze once more, face flushed a flattering pink hue. “It wasn't,” she admitted, letting the weight of that confession hang in the air between them.

Fighting down a blush of his own for some reason, he smiled gently at the shy girl. “Any guy who wouldn't be honoured to wear such clothing made by you isn't worth your time.”

Her colour turned to full on crimson. “Right, well, if you're back to flirting, you must be feeling better. So shouldn't you be going to protect Chloé now?”

“Chloé?” he echoed, surprised.

“Yeah, that akuma said that because the date was fake he wouldn't honour our deal and would go after Chloé again,” she reminded him, half suspecting from personal experience with her own panic attacks that he hadn't managed to register that fact before now.

Chat bit back a curse. “It's dark. Can you make it home by yourself okay?” he asked, hands gripping Marinette's shoulders with worry clear in his inhuman eyes.

“Yes, I know the way,” she assured.

“Right. Good. Stick to public places and brightly lit streets. Don't try and cut any corners or take any shortcuts down dark alleys. Remember, drivers can't see you very well in the dark. I'm sorry I can't go with you, but I really have to go,” he babbled out words of advice.

She was touched he actually cared so much about her, even though this was her first time meeting him outside of the mask. He really was a good guy, even if he was a total show off and a hopeless flirt. She was glad someone like him was her partner. “Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry. You've got other princesses to save tonight, right?”

The look he gave her was unreadable for a moment, before it melted into a gentle smile. “Yeah, be safe.”

“You too,” Marinette responded before watching him turn and bound away. 

~*~

Chloé stared up at her ceiling with a pout. She had tried for about thirty minutes to work on her project, she really had, but it was just so boring! And it gave her a headache that would cause her eyebrows to furrow and would lead to early wrinkles. Such things shouldn't be allowed for someone like her, after all, that's what poor people were for. You paid them things and they did all the stuff you didn't want to do yourself. That was just how the world worked, so who was she to go against it? To put all those poor people out of jobs and not let them have the money for roofs over their heads or food on their tables. 

But then she remembered why she was doing this. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The baker's daughter disaster girl who beat her at being class rep because of an akuma attack. Who was notorious for being the first to run and hide at the very mention of the word 'akuma'. Who opted to sacrifice herself like some dumb idiot to ensure Chloé of all people's safety. Even though they had hated each other since that fateful third grade art class. Even though Chloé had done everything in her power to go out of her way and make Marinette's life miserable. 

Talk about an idiot.

But Sabrina wasn't helping this time, and Chloé couldn't help feeling bad about what the Asian girl was sacrificing for her sake. She had sent away the only help she had to go keep her safe, but that still meant she had this pile of work that had to get done and no one around to do it. She hadn't even been able to get her Adrichou on the phone to give her a hand with the confusing bits. He had apparently used her as an excuse when she had tried and got Nathalie instead. He had apparently ditched his Chinese lesson—good for him—by saying there was a library book both of them had needed for their report and so he had followed her home so he could use it at the same time as her. 

Chloé had cleanly confirmed whatever story he had told to keep her friend out of trouble, though she'd be having to check up with him later to get the real details for sure, but it had meant he was now swamped with catch up and she didn't want to push their luck any further than she had lately and risk real retaliation by his father. So she had made some lame excuse about being done with the book now and wanting to know if he still needed it before she returned it to the library or not and was forced to hang up after that.

She was just deciding how she could spin this akuma attack as a way of getting out of her work when she heard a noise in the hall outside her door. She hadn't called room service, and it definitely wasn't a scheduled cleaning time—that was always in the middle of the day while she was in school—and so the noise put the blond girl on edge. “Jean-Paul? Is that you?” she called so her voice would carry past the door.

There was no answer.

“Chat Noir? Did you come back?” she tried again, images of grown men with cameras and drones that hovered outside her window as she slept flashing in her head, but she did her best to push those memories down. “If you don't answer right now, I'm calling security! When my Papa hears about this, he'll sue you!” she warned as bravely as she could muster.

However, before her hand could even move towards her hotel room phone, the door to her room rubbed out of existence, leaving the smirking akuma standing in its wake. Chloé screamed loud and shrill at the sight of the monster approaching her when she was all alone, and bolted as fast as she could to the deeper recesses of her suite, seeking somewhere safe to hide. Slamming the door shut behind her, and locking it just in case, her eyes flitted about before she spotted her bed and sprinted for it, scrambling over it to the far side before dropping to her belly and shimmying under the bedframe.

She hadn't been under there in years, not since the time her and Adrien had still found hide-and-seek to be a fun game to play. The fit was tighter than she remembered, but she had nowhere else to go. She heard her bedroom door swing open, shutting her eyes and praying he would just go away. Hadn't that stupid tomcat said she wasn't in danger anymore because of the disaster girl? This was all his fault! Where was he when she needed him? Where was her heroine, Ladybug? Footsteps paced into the room. 

“Chloé~...” the voice called, a teasing lilt to his tone as though he wasn't the monster that went bump in the night. “Where are you? Are you hiding? How cute…” she could practically hear the deadliness in his voice as he stalked around her room. She did her best to hold her breath so he wouldn't hear her. “Do you want to play hide and seek? In the closet?” She cracked one eye open despite herself, watching in horror as the closet door ceased to exist, followed shortly by all her specially tailored clothes and even her designer shoes and bags. What reason would he have to get rid of her shoes and bags?!

She must have made a noise, because the next thing she knew the protective sensation of wood slats across her back vanished and she rolled over to find the akuma looming above her. “ I won Chloé: I found you,” he taunted, tone low and threatening.

Chloé responded with the first jab she could think of. “My dresses from Chenal! My Touboulin pumps! Oh, you are… You are a monster!”

“It's funny,” he noted, “you love to walk all over those around you, but it looks like you don't like it so much when you're the one being trampled...” His stylus practically flew over his tablet, bringing to life the giant pump that tapped its toe a few times in testing itself before rising up to come down atop the blond girl's head. 

Chloé screamed and bolted away, using her decade of professional dance lessons to jump cleanly over a love seat before racing for her sitting room. If she could just make it into the hall, just make it to the elevator—no, elevators were dangerous during emergencies—to the stairwell she could get down, get out to where other people were, where someone would be able to call the heroes, the police, the army! They would protect her once they found her, she would be safe!

The rhythmic thumping following her suddenly stopped, and Chloé chanced a glance over her shoulder to see Chat Noir standing there, holding the shoe by its stiletto heel as he forcefully lifted it into the air and suplexed it into the middle of her sitting room floor. “You said he wasn't after me any more!” she accused, pointing a finger at her saviour.

“Sorry, Chlo, the plan didn't work out as smoothly as we would have liked,” Chat excused, swooping in and sweeping Chloé off her feet as he ran out onto the patio deck with her instead. 

“Hey! Be more careful with me, you uncultured brute! You're messing up my hair!” Chloé scolded, wrapping her arms around his neck for balance as he carried her at break-neck speeds bridal style. “And who told you you could call me 'Chlo'!?”

“Sorry, sorry,” he responded distractedly as he eyed the distance to the roofs across the street, trying to gauge just how high he had to jump to make the leap.

However, Dessinateur followed them out to the patio. “It seems it's time for the big showdown between the heroes and the villains. But I swear to you, if you knew her, you wouldn't go to so much trouble to save her! The real villain is her!”

“What? But that's not even true! And first of all, everyone adores me! Even Ladybug, herself, called me adorable!” Chloé raged at him from the safety of Chat Noir's arms.

“You're delusional!” The akuma raised his stylus to his tablet and a moment later a series of giant red boxing gloves started soaring through the air at the pair of blonds. Chat jumped and leapt and dodged around them, all while carrying a screaming Chloé, which left his sensitive ears aching. Because of all of the red flying past, he almost missed out of the corner of his eye a flash of red going in the opposite direction.

Using her yo-yo's recoil to add to her momentum, Ladybug plowed into Dessinateur with both feet striking his chest, sending him tumbling back into the sitting room. “Now, that's what I call a knockout!”

“Ladybug!” Chloé squealed with delight. 

“Ah, you finally decided to come back,” Chat acknowledged in way of greeting, his tone only holding the lingering edge of his earlier frustration with her attitude.

“You know I was busy Chat Noir! I had a top secret mission!” Ladybug countered.

“Oh yeah? What exactly was it?” he challenged. 

“Oh well if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore!” she replied with a wink before turning and rushing back into the room after the akuma who was picking himself up. 

Chat watched her for only a moment, sighing as he knew he could never stay angry at her, and a little frustrated at all the secrets that had to be kept between them. What did she know that he didn't? Was her kwami telling her more than Plagg was? He set Chloé down in the cover of her patio table and instructed her, “Stay here where you're out of danger.”

He then entered the room, closing the glass doors behind him for what ever protection they afforded and to slow Dessinateur down if he tried to run again. Ladybug had been exchanging blows, yo-yo to oversized flyswatters of all things. When a lucky shot looked like it was going to work, a wall of Plexiglas appeared in her way. Suddenly a buzzsaw was released in her direction, and while Ladybug could have easily jumped over it to dodge, she found she didn't need to as Chat's staff impaled the hole in the centre while it was still a good two feet away from her. 

Using the end of his staff like a makeshift atlatl, Chat launched the buzzsaw back at Dessinateur, causing the akuma to have to dodge as it implanted itself in the wall behind him. Without wasting a moment of his advantage, Chat split his staff in two and threw one side, forcing the akuma to duck and the projectile to strike a wall light instead even as he came down on his opponent with the other staff. Dessinateur put his pen to his tablet for a moment, before cursing under his breath and moving back further out of Chat's way before scribbling up another Plexiglas barrier when Chat tried to lunge at him with a forward strike.

“Here, a present just for you, mon petit chaton!” the akuma sneered, drawing in a series of heavy chains attached to all the cat-boy's limbs weighed down with large balls. However, this inconvenience only caused Chat Noir to growl and hiss before going back at Dessinateur even stronger than before. 

“I'm not your 'petit' anything, and I take offence to the implications of these accessories of yours,” Chat snapped back.

However, while all this was happening, Ladybug had come to a startling realization with a memory from earlier that night. The akuma didn't have Chat Noir's night vision, and couldn't see to draw in the dark. So as her Minou kept the Dessinateur's attention on him, she was systematically using her yo-yo to break every light fixture in the room. Once she had finished, and the only light source left was the one the akuma was standing under, she hurried over and started shutting all the drapes hanging before the patio and then turned and yelled, “Chat Noir! Cataclysm the light bulb beside you!”

“No!” the akuma screamed, even as Chat turned without question to obey. 

“Cataclysm!” Chat cried, his right hand rushing towards his target, accepting by the akuma's panicked scream that his Lady had a winning strategy. A last ditch effort to stop the cat-boy appeared as another Plexiglas barrier, but the power of the Cataclysm turned it to brittle ash the moment he touched it. No longer powered up, Chat Noir plunged his hand onward, grabbing the whole light fixture and ripping it clean from the wall, electrical wires snapping under the force of the pull. He hoped whatever plan Ladybug had, this would be enough to make it succeed.

Apparently it was, because at that same moment her yo-yo snagged around the stylus pen and pulled it from Dessinateur's hands. Chat reached out to hold the akuma back from lunging across the dark room at Ladybug as she snapped the stylus in half. A moment later, a little black and purple butterfly rose from the discarded broken pieces. “I free you from evil!” the now iconic cry came.

A moment later, realization dawned on her that she had no Lucky Charm to throw. Well, if worst came to worst, she could just summon a Charm to cast her cure with, but she may as well try this first. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she called, throwing her yo-yo into the air and watching as the ladybugs cascaded off of it and began cleaning up all of the damage anyway. After her and her partner exchanged their customary fist bump, Ladybug urged Chat to leave first. “You're the one on the timer today, Minou. I'll make sure this boy here gets home alright. See you next time!”

~*~

“NO!” Le Papillon raged, stomping at the ground like a toddler told they couldn't have a toy. “I was so close! _So close_! If it wasn't for that wretched boy's soft heart so focused on pretty girls, I would have won tonight! One day, I'll hold them there in the palm of my hand… I'll have absolute power.”

~*~

After having recharged Plagg, and feeding him a little extra just to stop his complaining, Chat Noir was in his suit once again, making his way carefully down to a window ledge. It had taken him a few nights to scout out which window exactly belonged to his DJ friend in this apartment complex. He hadn't wanted to raise suspicion or draw attention to the building, so had to give up every time he had been spotted by passer-bys or by residents of the building. But tonight he finally managed to knock on the window pane in order to draw the attention of the boy that had been zoning out on YouTube, watching meme videos.

At the sound of the knocking, Nino confusedly looked around until his eyes landed on the black clad figure perched outside his window. Baffled, Nino got up and opened the window, looking up at his favoured hero. “Chat Noir? What are you doing here, dude?”

“I'm doing an investigation into the location of Le Papillon and need to ask you some potentially upsetting questions. Do you feel up to answering them?”

“I, uh, y-yeah, yeah, go ahead, dude. I mean, I don't know what I can tell you, cause I don't remember anything, but whatever. Anything to bring that jerk-face down,” Nino assured, stepping back to give the other boy the room to enter.

Chat moved delicately over to the desk chair which he spun to face the rest of the room before taking out his baton and sitting primly upon the chair, his very posture an ideal image of grace and good breeding. Nino, on the other hand, flopped rather unceremoniously on his bed, legs sprawled and propping up his slouching figure on one arm. Chat ignored it, opening his baton to the app functions as he began to speak. “I will be recording this conversation for later consultation, but your words will not go any further than myself, so you needn't worry about saying anything embarrassing. I'm fully aware that some of these questions are invasive and may bring up memories that are uncomfortable to relive, but I assure you it is for a good cause. That being said, to prevent Papillon from catching on to any clues he may be giving Milady and myself, I request you don't divulge the information that I came to speak with you to anyone, alright? It's for the safety of yourself and your loved ones as well.”

“I... yeah, I get you, dude. Um, ask away, I guess?” Nino prompted.

“Thank you. Now, for starters, lets walk through the events of the day you were akumatized. Can you tell me about the initial time you felt negative emotions that day?”

Nino blinked, then put his face in his hands and rubbed at his eyeballs with his palms before flopping back and sighing at the ceiling as he ran his hands down his face. “That was... my friend's birthday... oh jeez, let me think. I think, in all honesty, I had probably been feeling upset since the night before. My Ma had stuck me with babysitting my kid brother, and he was being a real pain, kept getting into all my stuff no matter how many times I told him to knock it off, and pulling shit he knew he wasn't allowed to do. I finally got fed up and took the bubbles Ma had given him after he had whined at her he wanted them when we were out grocery shopping earlier, and I knew he'd go running to her with this whole story that would paint me the bad guy the minute he saw her again. I'd be forced to apologize for him being the brat and be made to give him the bubbles back because 'you're the older one, you need to be the bigger person, be more understanding of your little brother, he's just a baby!'” he quoted out the last part in a falsetto. 

“So I took the bubbles with me to collège that day. I thought, if nothing else, I could use up as much of the bubbles as possible, maybe just chuck the whole thing in the garbage somewhere before I got home, you know? Hide the evidence, make it so he couldn't get rewarded for being a purposeful little shit no matter what Ma had to say on the matter. But then when I got to school, and my bro... you gotta understand, man, my bro Adrien might be rich and famous, but he's not some pampered little prince. He's so socially awkward and shy, there's this girl in class, Chloé? She treats him like her own personal doll that she can do anything with and he just lets her! He just wants friends _so badly_ that even when she's being a total pain in the ass, he won't tell her off. But he's genuine about it all, you know? And... he'll do anything to make people like him, even pulling strings to set a useless nobody like me up with this huge opportunity to talk to a real pro director. Everyone knows I don't have a chance in the industry, it's just a pipe dream, but Adrien didn't even think twice about supporting me.”

“Nino...” Chat breathed out without even realizing he had spoken.

“And he did it just to be a good friend, you know? A dude like that, the world would chew him up and spit him out in a heartbeat, so I promised myself I'd have his back. It's the only thing someone like me can offer for everything he's given me. So when his old man went and said he couldn't even spend his birthday with the friends he'll do anything to have, I just couldn't give up. But man, that dude is a real piece of work. Not only did he not give a rat's ass about his kid's happiness, he went an forbid us from being friends anymore just because I was trying to make my bro's b-day into a special event. I was so pissed, but my bro was just trying to smooth everything over, making excuses for that selfish asshole, I had to play it was all okay for his sake. Then the last thing I remember getting angry about that day was this kid who's dad wouldn't let him play at the park. I mean, normally I wouldn't get so ticked at something like that, but just on top of everything else... I had just been starting to calm down and then that happened and then... nothing.”

“And what park was this?” Chat prompted, shifting slightly in his seat.

“Ah, man, I don't know. I don't remember the name of it. It's that one by the metro station that's a few blocks from here. I had stopped there to cool my head before coming home. Then the next thing I remember was waking up with you and Ladybug standing over me,” Nino explained, waving a hand in the general direction he was indicating.

“How long were you in the park, would you say, before the kid and his father?”

“Oh, I don't know... ten, fifteen minutes tops,” Nino said with a sigh.

“I see, and how long did it take you to reach the park from the time you got 'so pissed' at your friend's Père?” Chat prompted, eyes twinkling in mischief as he quoted Nino's words back at him.

“Oooh geez, let's see... there was the fight itself... maybe three or four minutes of that, then Adrien trying to smooth everything over, then the walk to the metro station was probably around seven minutes given how many blocks it was. Then waiting for the train to get there was around the usual amount of time, then the ride between stations wouldn't have been more than ten minutes tops... sooo maybe... twenty minutes?”

Chat just nodded at this. “Alright, next question. Is there anyone in your life, or the lives of your family members, that you can think of that might want to hurt you, or hurt them through hurting you?”

Nino thought on that matter. “Ah, well, there's Kim, but he's just a bully to most the guys in our class. My biodad I wouldn't know, I have no clue who he is, but maybe someone upset at my Ma...? I don't know.”

“Biodad?” Chat blinked in confusion.

“Oh, yeah. Pa isn't my real Père, he only got with my Ma when I was three,” Nino offered as an explanation.

“Oh, I see. And your Mère? Why would you think someone would potentially be after her?” 

“Well, for starters, she's a nurse, so people can always be blaming them for all sorts of shit that ain't there fault. It's not uncommon. And the other reason... well, she's demi.”

“I-I'm sorry, demi? What is that?” Chat asked, head tilted in confusion.

“Ah, it basically means she needs a long time of knowing someone to start feeling attracted to them. It's why I don't know who my biodad is. Ma always knew she wanted kids, and she started dating a guy when she was eighteen, thought she'd spend her life with him, you know? Well, he was willing to wait on her for a while, but eventually he got fed up about not having his needs met and left. Ma was heartbroken, she thought because she was demi she'd never find someone willing to wait for her to be ready to move the relationship forward, so she went to a sperm bank and tada, here I am. Not long after she met Pa, and it turns out there was a guy willing to wait for her after all. They got married and a few years later Chris was born. But because she's part of the LGBTQ+ community, even though she's happily married with kids, there's still some flack that gets thrown her way from time to time.”

“I see, that must be rough,” Chat acknowledged. “And what about your Père or little brother?” 

“Oh, Pa runs a construction company, he's out of town on jobs as often as not. I guess someone could be mad at him about something? And Chris... he's eight, he's a little shit, sure, but why would Papillon have a grudge against an eight year old?”

“I'm sure he doesn't, I'm just trying to be as thorough as possible. Is there anyone else you can think of that you might have made mad at you? A rival for a girl? Someone you beat out in a sports event? Anyone?”

“Nah, man, I keep my head pretty low down. Though... maybe check out people connected to my bro, Adrien. He's rich and popular and a lot of people are out to use him for one thing or another. Maybe someone got pissed that I snagged his best friend slot, but that's the best I could come up with.”

Chat lowered his eyes at that, nodding solemnly at the likelihood of that being a lead. “Alright, that's all the questions I have for you for now. I may come by again and ask you some follow up questions in the future, once I've managed to narrow the search down further. Thank you for your time,” he said, standing up smoothly and making his way back over to the window. “Have a good night.”

~*~

Marinette had made extra sure to get up early that morning. She had two different red-heads to clear things up with, and a job as class rep to deal with. She entered the classroom to find, oddly enough, Alya sitting and talking with Chloé. “And what happened when Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived?” she heard Alya ask, and rolled her eyes. Of course Alya would put her feelings aside to learn about an akuma attack she couldn't film. 

She decided if Chloé and Sabrina's bench was previously occupied, as well as Alya distracted with something else to prevent further teasing, Marinette would take the opportunity to go talk to the second red-head on her list first. Digging a small wrapped package out of her backpack, she made her way over to the back of the room. Setting the gift on the side of Nathaniel's desk, she said, “Happy birthday. If I had known ahead of time I would have brought you in something yesterday, but...” she fidgeted, and cast her eyes to the floor.

Really, the present had been a last-second addition to this conversation, a way to hopefully make him feel better when she gave him the bad news. She had done a bit of soul searching last night after she had taken Nathaniel home, about what she felt for him and if she could be happy dating him. She had almost managed to convince herself yes, when she had turned and looked at her pictures of Adrien and had become overwhelmingly swept up in her fantasies about the blond model. She couldn't do that to Nathaniel, say she'd date him when her heart so completely belonged to another. So she had ended up wrapping up the new set of drawing pencils she had picked up for herself because she was starting to get near the end of her set and giving them away to be his gift instead.

“Um... a-about what Chloé said at the end of class yesterday...” Marinette began, broaching the embarrassing subject as delicately as she could manage. “Um, the truth is, I'm really flattered that someone like you likes me, you're kind, and gentle, and sweet, and everything, but--”

“--But you like Adrien,” Nathaniel cut her off.

Marinette's eyes went huge, her face turned a bright crimson, and she flailed her arms about while stuttering “W-wh-wh-what?!”

Many people in the room turned at the blunette's outburst questioningly, so Nathaniel dropped his volume so they couldn't be overheard. “I often watch you in class, so I've seen the way you look at him. It's not hard to figure it out when he's the only one you act that way about. I-I had been intending to make myself someone better before I confessed my feelings to you, so I'd have a chance, but now...”

“I'm sorry...”

“It's fine. Thank you for being honest with me,” he smiled at her a strained and sad expression before dropping his eyes to his doodles once more. Ladybug, soaring through the sky. It had been magical, being carried away by the heroine, her kind words reassuring him of what had happened, how he hadn't hurt anyone. How he had even been willing to give up his grudge on Chloé because Marinette had told him she hated violence. It didn't explain why he had been in Chloé's room when he came to, but it was nice to know he hadn't been a truly evil monster. Ladybug had been so kind, and she really was very beautiful...

Marinette slipped around the back of the room and down the far side of the class to where Sabrina was standing. Adrien had been sitting in her spot, a hand on Chloé's back in comfort and solidarity while the school queen recounted every harrowing detail of yesterday's attack to Alya's livestream. This left Sabrina leaning up against the wall a few feet away, wearing a strangely familiar beret. Marinette wanted to ask if she was free to meet up tonight to work on their project together, when the other girl spotted her and came marching over.

“I hope you had fun last night with your supposed 'important' thing!” she snapped.

“Er, s-sort of?” Marinette squeaked. There were moments of the date that were kind of fun she supposed. “I-I mean, not much, but I really couldn't get out of it, you know? I'm sorry. Would you like to go to the library again after school today and work on the project together?"

“Too late! Chloé and I already went to Mme Mendeleïev and told her how you're not pulling your own weight and got you removed from our group!” Sabrina announced with a sneer.

“What?!” Marinette squawked at the idea of being kicked off a group project like that. Not that she wanted to work with either of her bullies, but to be made to do the whole presentation by herself...

“Chloé and I are doing the presentation together!” Sabrina reiterated smugly.

“You mean you're going to do the whole presentation by yourself,” Marinette deadpanned, annoyed that absolutely all of her efforts from the previous day were for nothing.

“Obviously! After all she's been through!” Sabrina exclaimed dramatically. 

“Ugh, fine, whatever! At least you get a very nice beret!” she snapped back, sarcastically.

“I know! It's designer! It costs so much, and Chloé was nice enough to lend it to me as thanks for helping her out! She's so nice to me, a _real_ best friend!” Sabrina bragged, failing to pick up on Marinette's insult. 

Then Adrien of all people got up and made room for Sabrina to come fawn over Chloé while he slipped away to share a private word with Marinette. “Hey, sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. It's horrible you got booted from their group just because you had something else going on last night. If you need some help, feel free to ask. I'm pretty good at physics.”

“Oh, I-I-you! Work and busy! Couldn't bossily—I mean! Positively! I mean, possibly! I couldn't possibly! Right!” Marinette babbled, cheeks flushed at the images that played in her mind unbidden at the very concept of working with the model. Of them cuddled up next to each other on a bench, leaning their faces in close to each other as they read over the same text. Of winding hallways of books a young pair of teens could get lost in when they were wanting a bit of alone time. 

“Well, if you change your mind... I'd offer you my phone number to call, but I don't have it right now, seeing as I'm still grounded. So if you want some help, just ask between classes or something, okay? After all, I'm sure your reason from last night was pretty urgent, Chloé mentioned to me something about you making a deal with the akuma to keep her safe, and that Chat Noir left to go keep an eye on you instead.”

Marinette paled at the thought that her crush knew she had been out on a date last night with another guy. What would he think of her? Would he consider her a slut now? Would he believe her when she finally got the guts up to confess? “She-she said what?”

Realizing the horror in her face and voice, Adrien was fast to backpedal. “Just to me, though. No one else knows, she just told the stream that the heroes left because they had other business to attend to. I just wanted to express my thanks on Chloé's behalf, it must have been very scary for you, but I still think what you were willing to put yourself through for someone you don't get along with—like Chloé—was a very brave thing for you to do.”

“M-me? Scared? Oh you capsize me! Finally... You get fired! I mean: are you kidding?” Marinette tried to brush off, only to drop her face in her hands as soon as she was done and mumbling to herself. “Oh, it's getting worse and worse…”

“O... kay...?” Adrien said dubiously. “Did you... at least enjoy getting to meet Chat Noir?”

“Oh him? Yes! Well… not so great as you, because who could be? You're the most awesome of the awesome guys! I-I mean! Not _that_ awesome! Pfft! No! But, well, just-just a _normal_ awesome! Like any other awesome guy! I-I-I have to go!” With that stated, the floundering blunette ducked past the model and plowed onward to the front of the room, trying to will the heat away from her cheeks.

Marinette took a few deep breaths to try and pull herself together again after that embarrassing run-in with her crush where she had just admitted how amazing she thought he was right to his face. But she still had a duty to her class to preform and she didn't want to be the sort of class rep that didn't do their job, even if her primary purpose for running for the position was to dethrone Chloé from her seat of power. So after she had taken a few moments to compose herself, Marinette turned and addressed the room. “Could I get everyone's attention, please? Today at lunch, if you could all stay in, I'd like to have a class discussion to brainstorm fundraising methods for our class charity donation!”

Adrien raised his hand a little sheepishly. “I'm sorry, but I'm scheduled to be returning home for lunch today, so I'll have to miss it.”

“O-oh! Um, w-well, wh-what about a-after school, instead?” Marinette asked, struggling to keep her face neutral and professional when her crush addressed her directly. Just her luck her first order of business as the new class rep would be underminded like this. Would her classmates lose faith in her and kick her out of her office because of this lack of forethought and planning?

This time it was Mylène who shyly raised her hand, looking bashful and apologetic. “A-actually, the drama club has practices Wednesday after school...”

“Is there anything else I should be aware of for planning meetings?” Marinette looked around the room, a little lost. When Kim raised a hand and announced he had early morning swim meets so before school was out of the question, it opened a floodgate of confessions of every person in the room calling out their scheduled extracurricular activities. After a good few minutes of this in which Mlle Bustier even politely postponed starting class so they could schedule their meeting, Marinette asked, “So is tomorrow at lunch okay?” When she got no objections, even from Adrien who smiled kindly at her, Marinette clapped her hands to signal the end of the discussion. “Okay, so tomorrow at lunch it is. That will give you all a little over a day to come up with ideas for us to discuss!” 

As Marinette returned to her desk, one thing was clear in her mind: organizing so many people into doing the same thing was hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The #WhosYourHero thing will sort of come into play again in the future. Just know that most Chat fans are punk, or goth, or otherwise rebel sorts of people, while Ladybug's fans are generally much more towards the preps and the strait-laced individuals. That's why he was a little surprised when he found out Marinette was a Chat Noir fan. Or, at least she is to the best of his knowledge.
> 
> I realized too late that I forgot to address Chat's claustrophobia in earlier chapters. Because the showrunners didn't make it part of his characterization until season 2, it slipped my mind until a casual rewatch of Kagami's intro episode and him making a comment about disliking enclosed spaces. So I made an excuse for the scene in Lady WiFi, but the Bubbler scene will just have to be written off as an "oops".
> 
> Chloe does have a heart and a conscience, but she's also a spoiled brat. It's hard sometimes switching so fast from a chapter of "Chloe with people she loves" to "Chloe with people she doesn't care about". Hopefully the distinction is growing for my readers and is not too much of personality whiplash.
> 
> Nino's family life is basically all made up by me. I feel like I left out some questions, but I can't remember what I had missed anymore. Also, a bit of a reiteration on his relationship up to this point with Adrien from Nino's point of view. Poor boy has some self-esteem issues.
> 
> And anyone up to guessing what iconic piece of Miraculous lore I teased the introduction of in this chapter?


	12. Reflekta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Photos preserve memories so they are never forgotten, so people generations later can remember. But a curse placed on her prevents Juleka from having any such thing, resulting in her never being remembered.
> 
> \----
> 
> “Well, first thing you need to do if you really want to solve this is lift that poor girl's curse.”
> 
> “Wait, you mean there really is a curse?” the designer questioned, surprised.
> 
> “Of course! Did you think Miraculous magic was the only magic that existed? Someone cursed that girl, and a long time ago by the feel of it. Probably as retaliation against a parent, given how young she is, like what happened in the fable Sleeping Beauty!” ze explained.
> 
> “But-but then how do I break the curse? Do I have to kiss her? That's how the curse was broken in the movie!” Marinette panicked.
> 
> “Well, that _would_ work if you were soulmates, but no. You have an easier method as Ladybug! Haven't you noticed one of your spells is literally about purifying evil possessing something?” Tikki reminded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, this is based off of the Reflekta episode. It bugged me how late in the "official" timeline this episode takes place, because like class presidency, class photos are something done at the start of the school year. Honestly, Reflekta's one of my least-favourite canon akuma, because she makes no sense. Not that Juleka's feelings of being invisible make no sense, but the akuma's motive and powerset. 
> 
> You aren't seen, so you make everyone look exactly like you so that you're even less unique and noticeable? And you have the power to transform anyone to the point that you even write the Miraculous out of existence doing so? I can understand Papillon making a mistake the first time he used her and accidentally losing the Black Cat Miraculous, but re-akumatizing her in the same form on Hero's Day and in Reflekdoll?! What good would it do his cause to have her running around shooting at things--shooting at the heroes he's trying to get the jewellery from--if her powers make her able to transform even Miraculous? Without her having a way to turn them back to normal? How stupid a plan is that?
> 
> Also, why is there randomly just a chair sitting in the girl's bathroom? Not only is it unsanitary, what purpose does it provide other than being a prop to lock Juleka in her stall? I left it in cause I though maybe it was a French bathroom thing, but still. It makes no sense to me.
> 
> Also, it was pointed out to me that I had forgotten to include a clarification in the OMyTaku chapter that Adrien wanted his fans to keep their ears open for rumours about people behaving strangely as leads for Papillon, but didn't want to incriminate himself by telling them the truth so pretended to be asking about paranormal stuff for Halloween. So I took the chance to rectify that in this chapter. If anyone has any other fake leads he can be told about, feel free to drop me an idea and I'll credit you for them. While none of them will lead to Papillon, they do lead to something that furthers the plot in another couple of chapters.
> 
> Anyway, enough talking on my part, enjoy the chapter.

“...Tutoring at six to eight on Tuesdays, and Alix has rugby on Fridays, the same time Adrien is in his fencing class...” Marinette continued, scribbling down the last note on her pull-down planner. She then sat back and looked it over. “Did I miss anything, Tikki?” 

“You forgot Ivan has a doctors appointment on the seventeenth at two,” the little kwami supplied helpfully. 

“Ugh!” Marinette groaned, filling in the information away in the appropriate time block. “Everyone's so busy! When is there going to be time to go over things and plan?” 

“Well, if you rearrange your schedule a bit so you line up your own work with when everyone's busy with other things, and maybe talk to some of them about shifting their own schedules around?” ze offered helpfully.

“Yeah...” she allowed, but made no move currently to start reorganizing her life. 

“And didn't you say you wanted to make sure you looked your best today? Were you going to be asking Adrien to court again? If you don't leave soon, your hair will be all windswept and your face will get blotchy and sweaty from running in the morning chill.”

Marinette blinked once at the little kwami's words, before jumping to her feet with a scream. “Oh no! The class photo's today! I had almost forgot!”

As Marinette scrambled around the room to get her things together, Tikki floated over to look up at the Wall of Adrien Agreste, many of the pictures having changed to show the fall line. Tikki liked all the colours of the leaves in those pictures. They looked fun to play in. “Photos? Are you going to be doing that modelling thing?” It was a strange concept that Tikki wasn't sure ze fully understood, but it always seemed to involve lots of creation and made hir holder happy to see the results. 

“Oh, well, sort of? I guess you could describe it like that. But it's a group photo to show off the students in each class for the year, not show off anyone's clothes or accessories,” Marinette tried to explain. “It's to commemorate our year of attending classes together, so we'll always remember.”

Tikki tilted hir head for a moment in thought. “So... like... you'll be standing for a portrait?” ze asked, hir little tufts of fur on hir back end that acted as a tail wiggled in excitement so quickly they practically vibrated.

“I... yes? I guess that's a good analogy,” Marinette expressed, putting her backpack over her shoulder and holding out her open purse for the kwami to duck inside. “I'm just really excited, I'll get to be in the same photograph as Adrien!”

~*~

Mlle Bustier's class filed down the stairs and into the courtyard just as Mme Mendeleïev's class was finishing up taking their photo. 

“Very good,” the photographer was saying. “Now, everyone watch the camera!” He adjusted the focus until everyone was in sharp clarity. “There! Perfect! Now smile!”

“I'm going to be in a photo with Adrien, I'm going to be in a photo with Adrien!” Marinette squealed in a whisper as she clung excitedly to Alya's arm.

“That's amazing, seeing as this is a class photo and you're in the same class as him,” Alya sassed.

“Yeah, that's crazy, huh, right? I'm going to be in a photo with Adrien...” the blunette sighed dreamily, apparently not having been listening to Alya enough to register all of what her friend had said. 

Elsewhere in their group, however, the blond model sidled up to Chloé and her friends. Sabrina was standing dutifully at her side, smiling brightly, as Kim attempted to show off his muscles and get Chloé to tell him they were impressive while she watched his display dispassionately and Alix egged him on with insults. Adrien still didn't fully get their dynamic, but similarly to the relationship between Chloé and Félix, it seemed antagonism was just how they showed their affection. Chloé seemed to have that sort of relationship with most her friends, now that he thought about it.

Adrien tried to smile through his nervousness that he always felt around people playing these insult games. They sounded a little too much like fights for him to be able to be comfortable. “I'm sure Kim's arms are very nice,” he placated when he couldn't help but interject anymore. The action was like a soothing balm over his frayed nerves, making everyone happy was always the better action to take. “What about you, Alix? Do you go to the gym as well?”

Alix crossed her arms and snorted at the pretty-boy's redirect. “Oh, please! Like I have to rely on artificial methods like that! Unlike this big, dumb lug, I'm way more inventive on ways to keep in peak physical perfection!”

“Oh, like what?” Adrien pushed.

“I rollerblade, obviously, and I go hiking and mountain climbing in the summers, and I like to dirtbike and play rugby and I used to take judo...” Alix rattled off.

“Because it's the only style of fighting where being a runt is an advantage! Until you got too short for even that!” Kim cut in, laughing at the pinkette's angry pout. 

“I do rock climbing, too,” Adrien jumped in, pulling the attention back onto himself and away from any potential fight that could break out and hurt people's feelings. “And fencing. Do... you go hiking with your parents? Or, any siblings you may have?”

Alix's eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion as soon as he brought up family. “Why do you care?” she challenged.

“Alix!” Chloé hissed, immediately jumping to guard Adrien like an attack dog.

Eyes widening slightly and heart rate thundering at the realization that he must have accidentally touched a sore spot and now the mood was ruined and everyone would start yelling and fighting and falling apart and it would all be his fault. “I-I'm sorry, I just...” What could he say? He doubted telling her he was talking to her because she had been akumatized was the appropriate answer here. Should he use the same excuse he did for talking to Ivan? A friend of my pre-established friend? But that would have been Kim, or Sabrina he was talking to, not her. Say he's interested in getting to know her better? No, that sounded too much like a love confession and he didn't want to take things down that avenue in case he had to hurt her later. “I... I don't really know you. And, I mean, we've only been partnered up in that morning complement thing twice now, but probabilities state we'll end up paired together again and I don't want to just be repeating myself over and over again because that seems insincere. So I thought if I actually got to know you some...” he trailed off, blushing.

When all he was met with was silence and stares, however, Adrien's face lit up a darker red and he began rambling to explain himself. “It's just, you've all known each other for years now, and I mean I've known Chloé for years, but everyone else is new to me and I feel a little left out, like I'm so far behind everyone else. I've barely known anyone at school for more than a month, and I thought if I understood where you were coming from and what your life has been like up to this point, I'd maybe be able to understand you a little better? So, um, maybe we could schedule a time to sit down and get to know each other better?” he finished lamely, his hands twisting at the bottom hem of his shirt.

“I'm not one of your little fangirls,” Alix warned.

“I know,” Adrien responded without hesitation.

“Ugh! If you wanted to know more about people, you should have just asked, Adrichou! I'd have told you about anyone you were curious about!” Chloé bit out in exasperation at her childhood friend.

Adrien just turned his lost eyes to her. “But, spreading gossip about people is bad. Rumours hurt public image,” he reminded quietly.

“Only for people who have a public image in the first place,” she expressed back.

They were interrupted by a loud squeal of “Marinette!” and Adrien found his head snapping around to the sound of it without thinking. There, a rather flustered Marinette was struggling to figure out what to do with a sudden arm-full of Aurore. “Oh! It's so good to see you again, I've missed you _so_ much! I'm sorry I was away most of last week, I had the most horrible flu! Seriously, I was disgusting, coughing and sneezing all over the place! I was so worried I'd make someone else sick, too, that I just had to stay away! But I heard you got stuck working with _Chloé,_ you poor thing, I'm _so sorry_ I wasn't here for you when you needed me!”

“I-um... it's... koay? I-I mean, okay?” Marinette stammered out, confused and somewhat overwhelmed at this strange turn of events.

“Oh, good! I was worried she had been mean to you. And it reminded me, I don't have your number...” Aurore trailed off, digging her phone out of her pocket. 

However, before Marinette could reply, Mme Mendeleïev called to the gushing teen. “Aurore! We have a class to get back to!”

Cringing, Aurore forced herself to smile at Marinette anyway. “O-oh, well, I guess I'll catch you at lunch or something instead! Bye, Marinette!” She waved as she made her way towards the stairs, stopping briefly only once to make eye-contact and wave with a cutesy smile at Adrien as well, before hurrying up the steps after the rest of her class.

“Girl, what was that about?” Alya asked as soon as the pigtailed blond left hearing range.

“I have _no_ idea...” was all the blunette could respond with. As the photographer fiddled around with the set, Marinette cast her eyes about, looking for something to distract her from her nervousness regarding being in the same picture with Adrien. What if she sneezed right as the camera's shutter was clicking? What if her smile was stupid, or ugly, and he noticed and never wanted to interact with her again? What if—no, she had to remind herself not to go off catastrophising before anything had the chance to happen. 

Her eyes landed by chance on Juleka, who was over standing with Rose, Ivan, and Mylène. Her eyes had been drawn over because of the presence of Nino standing among his other group of friends, Adrien having opted to take their freedom to spend a bit of time with Chloé. But then she noticed Juleka's dress, and even the blond bully monopolizing her crush couldn't force the smile off her lips. 

Stepping up to the group, Marinette commented to the tallest girl of their year, “I'm glad you liked the alteration I did to your dress well enough to wear it for a class picture.”

“Yeah, well, if it even gets in the picture...” the goth responded sullenly.

“Oh, Juleka, you're not cursed! This time, you'll look great in the photo, right Marinette?” Rose pressed.

“Why would you think you're cursed?” Marinette asked in confusion.

“Ever since I was little, whenever someone would try to take a picture of me, something would go wrong. I'm cursed to be never seen,” Juleka explained, head hung low in defeat.

“No, Juleka! You have to think positively!” Rose pleaded.

Marinette looked at everyone's worried and upset faces. This was it, this was her job as class rep—as Ladybug—to take care of the needs of her classmates and ensure everyone was happy. So, pulling up all the confidence she could muster when not bathed in the calm and collected aura of her suit, Marinette stated, “Of course! I'll make sure that this time, everything will go well! You're a valued member of this class, and that means it's important that you aren't left out of our class picture that we're taking to commemorate all of us being together! You can count on me!”

Touched by the blunette's passionate words, a stunningly beautiful smile broke out across Juleka's face.

“Okay, time to make your prettiest smiles!” called the photographer, turning to the class standing there. “You, you, you, you, and... erm... I think you, go sit down on the bench.”

With one last smile to Juleka, Marinette joined Rose, Mylène, Alix, and Max, the shortest people in their class, on the bench. Marinette's eyes cast of their own accord over to the line of their classmates until they landed on Adrien, who was holding a conversation with Kim about something—she thought she caught his lips spelling out 'wall'—with Chloé standing beside him. “Oh, look, Sabrina!” Marinette could just make out her voice. “They're on the front, where the little kids go!” She laughed at her own comment, before calling out, “Hey, Rugrats! Try not to suck your thumbs in the photo!”

“Chloé!” Adrien spoke up, a warning in his voice. 

“Next row!” the photographer called, cutting off anything the teens could have been saying. He then pointed at Nathaniel, Alya, Sabrina, and Chloé. “You, you, you, and you! Go stand on the bench!”

While everyone else moved to comply, Chloé began to raise a stink at that. “Now wait a second, I'm supposed to be in the middle row, next to Adrien, (she tugged him over against her as she spoke, the blond model shooting her a bemused smile.) right in the centre of the picture! Look, we're the same height!” she argued, lifting a hand to move above the top of their heads and only managed to prove she was a good few inches shorter than him.

“No. Go settle yourself on the bench with the others,” the photographer told her, not taking any of her crap.

Chloé stalked forward, fuming. “How _dare_ you put me _behind_ the others! You know who my Papa is?”

“Why, is he a photographer?”

Chloé blinked at this in surprise. “...No. He's th--”

“That's a shame, I could have used an assistant. Anyway, hurry up, get in line,” the photographer spoke over her carelessly. “Unless you'd rather sit in the front row 'with the kids'.” Chloé opened and closed her mouth several times like a goldfish out of water before she growled at the man and stomped off to where she was told to go. “And the rest of you are to be standing between the two rows!”

“It's no big deal, Chloé. What matters is we're all in the picture, right?” Adrien attempted to pacify his friend as he stepped up beside Nino.

Juleka looked down at her mirror bracelet that Luka had bought her from a yard sale a few years back. Should she push her bangs behind her ear, or show off the dye-job by letting the bangs cover the side of her face as usual? She quickly ran her fingers over the back of her hair, trying to make sure there were no tangles, and straightened her dress so the seams were straight. She wanted to look her best because this was her chance. Not only was she lucky enough this year to be in the same class as Rose and get to be in a picture with her, but with the son of the fashion mogul, Gabriel Agreste, in her class, if he looked at the photo and saw her, she might just get her chance at being a model. She had to be sure to make the best impression she could.

“Perfect!” the photographer called. “You're magnificent! Now nobody move...”

Looking up, Juleka suddenly realized the photographer was going to take the picture without her. She wanted to speak up, but it felt like her throat was closing up on itself. She wanted to hurry over and get in place with everyone else, but her feet felt like lead welded to the floor. Would it be better to just sit this one out and not ruin the picture for everyone else after all?

“Er, excuse me, monsieur? You forgot Juleka!” Marinette spoke up, holding her hand in the air before pointing off to the side.

“Hmm?” the photographer blinked and looked over at the purple haired teen. “Oh, where's my head? Sorry! Go to the second row between the one with the cap and the blond one.”

“It's awesome you're in the centre of the picture!” Marinette said when Juleka reached her spot. “You'll see, it's over, you're not cursed any more!”

The photographer went back and looked at the camera for a few moments. “No, this isn't right! Something's off...”

“Of course something's off! I'm not in the right place!” Chloé interjected.

The photographer ignored her and instead approached Ivan. “You, move over there will you? Lets see...” For almost the next five minutes, the class was directed all around, shuffling rows and places as the photographer searched for the placement that he liked. 

Finally, once everyone but the ever patient and understanding Adrien was tired of this whole thing, M Damocles spoke up. “Excuse me, but do we have a problem?”

The photographer sighed. “It doesn't matter where I put the big guy, it destroys my picture's harmony...”

“The place you put _me_ in is unacceptable!” Chloé complained from where she still stood in the back row. Of her own volition, Chloé squeezed past Nathaniel, nearly shoving him off the bench as she moved unexpectedly in front of him, then wedged herself between Adrien and Juleka. To make room for herself in the very centre of the picture like she wanted, she shoved Juleka to the side, pushing her into Ivan's side.

“Mlle Bourgeois, behave yourself!” Mlle Bustier scolded.

Adrien tried to move aside to accommodate Chloé, but she held fast to his arm so he remained centred in the picture with her. Juleka, having nowhere to go and there not being enough room for Chloé to wedge her way in, shoved back at Chloé to retake her spot.

“That's right Juleka, don't let her push you out of the way!” Marinette encouraged from where she had turned to watch the commotion going on behind her head.

“Hey! Nobody asked you, loudmouth!” Chloé snapped at the blunette who was once again butting in. 

“Chlo, you're acting inappropriately,” Adrien warned, causing the other blond to freeze. She turned hurt eyes onto her childhood friend-turned-crush for a moment, trying to sway him with her look of betrayal. “Do as the photographer tells you, it's their job to arrange the models in the way that makes them look the best.”

The heiress deflated at that, obediently listening as the photographer ordered her to go stand elsewhere, though she sulked while doing so. Finally, content with how everything was arranged, the photographer declared “There, perfect!” 

The final arrangement, as they stood from left to right in the camera lens, was Nathaniel, Alya, Sabrina and then finally Chloé in the back row standing atop the bench, then Nino, Adrien, Juleka, Kim, and Ivan standing in the middle row, with Max, Marinette, Mylène, Alix, and finally Rose sitting on the bench in the front. Mlle Bustier and M Damocles stood to either side of the class, framing the students in. 

But to Chloé, who was on the opposite side of the picture from Adrien, this wasn't acceptable. “Uh, no! On the contrary, it's anything but perfect! I'm set way too far away from Adrien!” A large portion of the class let out exasperated sighs, groans, or eye-rolls at this.

“Please Chloé, we still have sixteen classes to photograph!” the principle scolded, before turning to the photographer. “ Go ahead, Monsieur.”

“Right, smile!” the photographer called and clicked his button, only for the camera to beep at him. Looking it over he soon let out an annoyed sigh. “Oh, I don't believe this! I'm sorry, I have to go and fetch another battery. Nobody move!” he ordered, turning to go out to his car where the spare supplies were in his trunk.

Juleka felt her stomach churn with nervous energy, making her feel nauseous. So, rather than doing something embarrassing like being sick in public, she took the chance to slip over to the teacher and ask quietly “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Of course, Juleka, but be quick about it,” Mlle Bustier responded, equally quiet, and clearly trying to maintain her kind, patient tone, but it was clear she was feeling as frazzled and bothered as her students at how unbelievably long this whole thing was taking.

“The photographer said not to move!” scolded M Damocles as he noticed Juleka slipping off. 

“It was an emergency, Monsieur,” Mlle Bustier tried to discreetly whisper-shout the information to the principle, despite doing so across the other students, and thus everyone heard anyway. 

As the old man harrumphed over the disruption, Chloé leaned over and said in Sabrina's ear, “Make sure that goth doesn't come back.”

Sabrina's hand quickly shot up and she called with a smile, “Mlle Bustier! Can I go too?” Without waiting for a response, Sabrina jumped down from the back row and hurried off towards the bathroom at a jog. 

~*~

Juleka crouched over the bowl of the toilet, labouring breaths as she tried to settle herself before she was reduced to painfully dry heaving her non-existent stomach contents. She hated this, she felt so useless and embarrassed. Maybe it would be better if she just didn't put herself out there and just let everyone else enjoy the day. After all, she was so forgettable, the shy, quiet girl that everyone forgot even existed. Her own mother had forgotten she even existed for most of her life, only getting better in these last few years. She still had trouble speaking, finding Luka's musical language much more comfortable after her formative years where no one had taken the time to speak to her. 

Now she had a few more people, but it was really only Luka and Rose she trusted to actually care that she wasn't around. They were the only ones who loved her, even if Rose didn't the way she secretly wished she did, and boy was that another whole can of worms over and above everything else that she really didn't need to be focusing on right now.

There was a strange sound outside the door to her stall, like wood scraping against wood, nothing humanoid, and it caused Juleka to turn in confusion. What could that noise have been? Taking a moment more to get herself back under control, she flushed her bile down the drain and stood, unlocking the door and intending to go out and look around. Then maybe wash her mouth out quickly and go back to class. Hopefully she hadn't been too long.

However, when she went to push the door open it wouldn't swing, like there was something in the hinges or something was jamming it. Juleka flicked the lock closed and back open again and listened to it click into place both directions, but still the door wouldn't move. Panicked, Juleka pounded on the door to her stall as tears welled in her eyes. She was cursed. Was there even a purpose to calling out for help when she was the forgotten child that no one cared to even remember?

~*~

The camera man returned around five minutes after he left, fresh battery in hand. With the lunch bell set to ring any minute, he seemed eager to get the job done with in a hurry. Sabrina stepped up onto the bench from behind and shot Chloé a thumbs up to indicate her job had been successful. 

“Right, we're back in business! Now, everyone, smile!” the photographer called to the class.

Chloé slipped down and wedged herself in beside Adrien into Juleka's place at the same time that Marinette was frowning to herself at the fact that the tallest girl in their class had yet to return from the washroom. Adrien turned to his childhood friend and started to open his mouth to call Chloé out for moving to the wrong spot, but she just reached over and grabbed his chin, pushing his face to point in the direction of the camera again. “Eyes to the front, Adrichou!” she chided.

Realizing Chloé had probably done something to keep Juleka away, Marinette tried to speak up to put a stop to the bully's schemes. “Wait! Where's Juleka!” she tried to call, raising a hand to get the cameraman's attention, but there was a flash of light mid-way through Marinette's objection.

Then the lunch bell was ringing as he called out, “Thanks, kids!” and everyone started walking away.

This was horrible! She had promised Juleka that their class photo this year would go well because Juleka wasn't cursed and was a valued member of the class, and now the picture had been taken while Juleka was still in the bathroom. Marinette just knew Chloé was somehow behind it, undoubtedly she had put Sabrina up to another of her schemes so the blame couldn't fall on her. Sabrina had ran off to the washroom very quickly following Juleka's departure and returned far too fast to have been a bathroom break. And as the class representative, it was Marinette's job to take care of her classmates and make sure their needs and feelings were taken into account. 

Making up her mind, Marinette ran up and intercepted the school principle and the photographer as they walked back to the man's office to store the equipment away until the afternoon shoots. “Oh wait! Please monsieur, we have to redo the photo!” she insisted to the two men.

“Why's that?” M Damocles demanded, puffing up indignantly at being told what to do by a child, especially after such a long day culminating in a disaster shot. Especially not for the sake of another whiny little girl to throw a fit because she wasn't allowed to stand next to whatever friend she wanted to.

“That's because Juleka's not in it!” Marinette insisted.

“Jule-who?” the principle asked.

“Juleka! The tall one with the purple streaks!” she reminded, miming her words as she spoke. 

“Ah, yes. Didn't she go to the bathroom?” M Damocles recalled.

Chloé, realizing that if they took Marinette's making a fuss over the missing goth seriously then all her hard work to ensure she got to stand next to Adrien would be for naught, cut in to their conversation. “Uh, M Damocles, isn't it her fault for skipping out to go who knows where when the photographer told everyone to stay put? And aren't there sixteen other classes waiting for their turn while you're paying the photographer by the hour?”

“Why yes! No time to retake, move along, now!” he insisted, brushing Marinette aside when Chloé reminded him of why he was getting so impatient.

~*~

Gabriel stood at his standing desk, drawing on his tablet some corrective lines to the concept art one of his designers had sent in for the winter line. Holiday dresses had to be both warm and flattering, after all, with layers for when one entered the party, but still appropriately enough to look good while doing the job. He paused in his work as he felt the pull upon the higher plane of a heart in distress and let a smile of satisfaction spread over his lips.

“M-Master? Please no? A-Adrien, your-your son, is there! He'll be in danger!” a little voice piped up in fear.

“It serves him right for having the audacity to disobey me. This will teach him to stay where he belongs,” Gabriel responded. “Nathalie, I will be stepping away from the office for a time!” he called over his shoulder as he moved to the painting of his ex-wife.

“Yes, sir,” came the immediate response as the elevator began lowering him down the shaft and towards his lair.

“He was supposed to be my new holder, now that he's reached a proper age...” ze lamented, following hir owner reluctantly down the shaft. “Remember? Emilie had said so...”

“That bleeding heart of his doesn't deserve the power of a Miraculous! He would never be able to bend that power to his will and really make use of it, like I have! He doesn't have the drive for it! But me... only I am truly worthy of the power the Miraculous grant to me, the greatest Miraculous wielder in all of history! That is why I must possess the Black Cat and Red Beetle as well! When I possess their ultimate power, I will finally become what I was always destined to be! My birthright, my destiny! Absolute power over everything, just like I deserve!”

Nooroo drifted behind hir holder's back so the man couldn't see hir face as ze thought to hirself, _You have no idea of what my power could achieve in the hands of a wielder who was truly worthy..._ From hir own personal experience, after thousands of years of being assigned holders, the 'bleeding heart' as Gabriel called it had far greater potential than the fallen man could ever hope to compare to. But ze also knew better than to try voicing such sentiments to one as corrupted and sick as him. Talking back would do no one any favours.

“Nooroo, transform moi,” Gabriel spoke as they reached the end of their ride, a flash of purple light later leaving the supervillain standing where the business man once was. As he stepped from the platform, he opened the window and began his monologue. “Ah, poor child,” he cooed in faux sympathy. “Loneliness, rejection, ignored... how difficult it must be to feel like you don't exist. Come closer, little butterfly, let me grant you the power needed to darken this broken heart! Give this invisible soul a voice, so that they will be truly noticed!”

~*~

Rose had realized with startling clarity when Marinette pointed out Juleka's absence that the blunette was right. Her best friend, Juleka, had never come back from the bathroom trip, and given her earlier state of mind about the whole picture thing, Rose was rightfully a little worried. So while Marinette was doing a wonderful job as class rep by explaining to the grownups why the photograph had to be retaken, Rose instead turned at once and backtracked the path along which Juleka ought to have been taking to get back to where everyone else was.

As she entered the mostly deserted locker room—seeing as their class had already been out in the courtyard at the bell, and most other students still had to pack up and make their ways over, unless they happened to be done for the day already when the bell had rung—and tried to call for her friend a few times to make sure she wasn't just sitting behind a row of lockers where Rose couldn't see. However, all she got were curious yet blank looks from the other students not in her class or grade that had been in the room, so she figured it was likely a safe bet Juleka wasn't tucked away anywhere around the far corners.

Continuing on, Rose went to the bathroom that the tall goth girl ought to have gone to. “Hello~? Julek-huh?!” Rose called as she opened the door, freezing in shock at the sight of a chair shoved up under the door handle of one of the stalls and the sound of quiet sobbing echoing out from behind the stall door. Confusion mixed with anger in that moment as Rose sprung forward and ripped the chair away, pulling the newly unblocked door open and finding her dear friend curled up in the fetal position on the floor. “Oh, my poor Juleka!” Rose cried, dropping down to envelop her best friend in a comforting hug as nearly red eyes filled with shimmering tears looked up at her so lost.

The goth let herself be hugged for a moment, before pulling away and rising to her feet. “Lemme guess, I missed the photo, didn't I?” she asked dejectedly.

“Don't worry, Juleka, Marinette noticed right away that you didn't come back and she's talking to M Damocles and the photographer right now! I'm sure we'll have a reshoot right after lunch!” Rose assured.

“ _Marinette_ noticed...?” Juleka repeated. Not even her best friend who she loved so dearly noticed she was missing, only the class rep who up until a little while ago had been the only girl in school bullied more than Juleka. But she had found her voice, and everyone loved her for it, yet Juleka herself was someone that no one would ever want to see or hear. Not even the girl she loved. “Why should I even bother? It's not like the end result will be any different. Nobody ever hears me. Or sees me. I'm invisible. Even in photos.”

“Don't say that Juleka! It's not true!” Rose pleaded.

“Forget it. As long as there are Chloés in the world, there will never be any room for girls like me!” with that declaration out, Juleka ran from the bathroom, tears blurring her vision once more.

“No, wait Juleka!” Rose tried to call after her, but to no avail. 

Juleka didn't want hollow, meaningless words right now. Her brother was right, it was too easy to make words say whatever lies people wanted, when in reality the truth was so much more painful than their sugar-coated versions of themselves they show to the world. She wanted Luka so badly right now, then she wouldn't need to find words. He'd understand everything like always and play his music and make everything better. With him, she didn't have to speak to be heard. It was so much easier, and he always was so understanding and supportive. 

But unfortunately, not being one for athletics made it so she only got as far as the park before her burst of energy ran out and she had to collapse on a park bench to have her breakdown instead.

~*~

Marinette sat slumped on the bench, Alya sitting to her left and rubbing her arm soothingly, as she catastrophized over her failure as a class representative. “You don't _get it_ , Alya! I _promised_ Juleka she'd be in the class photo! When everyone hears how I failed to keep my word, they'll all _hate_ me and turn on me and throw me out of the class!” the blunette wailed.

“Marinette. Marinette, calm down. No one's throwing anyone out of the class, that's not something students have any say over,” Alya tried to reason, struggling to hold back a laugh at the absurdity of her friend's panic-induced scenarios. 

A distraction came in the form of the aspiring blond idol, finally meeting up with them after she had visited the locker room. “There you are! It's so much hassle being in different classes! Here, gimme your phone!” Aurore demanded, not even taking the effort to look and see that Marinette was having a freak-out. “We should so totally have a girl's night this Friday. I know a really great restaurant that's not very expensive just a few blocks down from the movie theatre, and they just came out with that one live-action Cinderella movie that I've been wanting to see. It's definitely a chick-flick sort of movie, and she's in a pretty dress. That's something you'd be into, right?”

It was at this point Aurore finally made the effort to actually look at Marinette and take in her state. “What's up with _you_?”

“Our class picture was a disaster, the photographer couldn't figure out how to arrange the class, and Chloé was being a brat and kept arguing with him, and then one of our classmates had to run to the bathroom and missed the photo entirely. But Damocles and the photographer are refusing to retake the shot,” Alya explained as Marinette was too busy whimpering.

It was just then that Rose ran up looking distraught as she threw herself down on the bench next to Marinette and clung to the slightly taller girl's sleeve pleadingly. “Oh, Marinette, it was awful! Someone locked Juleka in her bathroom stall! Oh, she really _does_ have a photo curse!”

Alya bristled at the news. “Ugh! I should have known Chloé would pull a stunt like this just so she could stand next to Sunshine in the photo!”

Aurore rolled her eyes. “I know, right? My god, that's such a _Chloé_ thing to do, too!”

“She's so selfish! Can't she think about anyone else for once in her life?” Alya raged on, encouraged by an agreeing voice to rant and vent all her frustrations.

But Rose's fingers were still balled into Marinette's sweater, large watery blue eyes looking up at her with a pleading expression. “You-you'll fix this, right Marinette?”

If the puppy-dog eyes themselves weren't enough to do Marinette in, the swirling cloud of responsibility hanging over her head was. Marinette had promised that she wouldn't let Chloé get away with anything anymore, and yet she had failed. She had encouraged Juleka to stand up to the bully, and the school queen had taken it out on her by coercing Sabrina into locking her in the bathroom. It was her duty as class president to be mindful of everyone and fight for what they needed, for their happiness, and yet she had been told off by the photographer and principal when she tried to go to them. All around, she had failed, and as soon as that got out, everyone would be so disappointed in her that they'd throw her away and she'd be all alone and hated by everyone all over again. 

She forced on her most believable and confident smile at the pleading blond and assured her, “Don't worry, Rose. I'll fix it!”

“Really?!” Rose squealed, face lighting up with such hope and excitement at finally having someone they could turn to to save them from Chloé's bullying. 

Marinette pushed herself to her feet and took a few steps towards the steps the principal and photographer had headed up not ten minutes ago, before anyone could ask her how she planned to do so and found out how in over her head she really was. “Yep! Leave everything to me!” 

As the three smiles watched her walk away, Aurore and Alya quickly going back to badmouthing Chloé while Rose was just content that everything would now work out for the best, none of them noticed said bully and her best friend eavesdropping on their conversation.

~*~

Juleka sat curled up on her bench, still crying from before, but her sobs were reduced to hiccups and her nose was only running a little. She stared down at her knees that she held curled to her chest by the arms wrapped around them. This day just sucked. She should have known better than to try putting herself out there and getting her hopes up like this. But Rose and Marinette had been so positive that things would go well, she had let herself get carried along by their positivity into actually believing that something good could happen.

But she really should have known better. It was all just hopeless, she'd never be able to overcome her curse, no matter what personal image she made for herself or how she tried to pursue her dreams of being a model. She would never be anything but unseen.

Through her watery vision, she saw a dark shape flutter down over her shoulder. Before she had time to do more than widen her eyes in shock, however, the little butterfly landed on her wrist mirror and the world fell away to her despair. “ _Reflekta, I am le Papillon. From now on the people in the street will only see you. No one will ever ignore you again. Nonetheless, you'll have to do me a small favour. When the time comes..._ ”

“With pleasure, Papillon.”

~*~

Adrien followed Nino over to where Ivan was talking with their friend from outside of the class, Jérémy Ramage. “Oh, hey, dude! Perfect timing! I was just telling Ivan about picking up the latest Guitar Hero. You wanna come over after school and play a few rounds?” Jérémy asked as they stepped up, holding a fist out to their DJ friend.

“Awesome, I'm game,” Nino grinned, returning the gesture in greeting. “What about you, bro? You wanted to hang out more with the guys, right?”

Adrien looked sheepish at that. “Sorry, I have to attend a fitting after classes for my Saturday shoot, and then I have Chinese lessons and then fencing until seven and...”

“Ugh, how do you keep track of all that?” Jérémy complained.

“Well, Nathalie gives me my weekly schedule every Monday at breakfast. I'm expected to know it so I'm not running late to anything,” Adrien replied.

“So much work,” he expressed, voice taking on a weary, breathy tone as his whole posture slumped.

“It's cool, bro, maybe next time, yeah?” Nino reassured, slinging an arm around the blond's shoulders at the dejected face he was making.

Before any more ribbing could happen from Jérémy, a high, excited voice broke into their conversation. “Adrien!” Turning curiously, the four boys watched as a petite brunette from a younger grade ran up to them excitedly. Her bright smile beamed up at the model who did his best to ignore the suggestive looks the other three shot his way.

“Should we leave you two alone?” Jérémy asked, a teasing lilt to his tone which caused the younger girl to flush brightly and Nino to tighten his hold ever so slightly.

“I--!” the girl began, swallowed, and then tried again a little more calmly. “I heard a creepy story for you! You said you were wanting to hear some from around the area because of Halloween?”

“Really?” Adrien questioned, honing in on the girl with new determination. Could his fans really have sniffed out a lead that quickly?

“Yeah! There's a rumour that around here, there's a secret hideout down in the Catacombs, and that if you go down there at midnight, you can hear voices calling you to come join them!” she enthused, clearly proud at being the first one to get back to him with a rumour.

Adrien could have slapped himself, if it weren't for his public image. How had he not thought of the Catacombs? Of course that was the perfect place for a villain's hideout! And midnight? He supposed he could manage to sneak out around then and investigate, it wasn't like it being dark would bother him. But going down under ground into tight winding tunnels known to be where people could easily get turned around in and lost forever... He shook off the thought. If he got lost while investigating, he could always cataclysm a way out. “Do you know where there's an entrance around here?”

“Dude! You're not actually thinking of going down there?!” Nino accused.

“What? No, no! But just... sitting at the entrance and seeing if you really could hear voices on Halloween might be kinda fun, right?”

Further conversation was halted when a bright pink figure landed down in front of where M Damocles was escorting the photographer back from the staff lounge, coffees held in each man's hand. The whole courtyard froze like some stop-motion models and stared at what was obviously an akuma in their midst. 

“Hello~!” the tall figure called out in a clear voice that carried. Adrien saw out of the corner of his eye Alya raising her phone, no doubt already recording. 

“Wh-who are you?!” M Damocles demanded, terror clear in his tone and posture.

“No one _ever_ noticed me! But that's all over! From now on, the entire world will notice me, because everyone will look like me!” the akuma declared in a booming voice, grand and flashy gestures with every word. “May the relooking begin!”

With that, the akuma pointed her wrist at the principal and a pink light shot out of it and struck the man in the chest. In a shower of sparks his body was encased in pink light before morphing into a different shape. When the light faded, a second copy of the akuma stood where the principal had been a moment before, looking bewildered. However, not giving anyone a chance to react, a second beam was shot at the photographer, to the same result.

“Soon, you'll see thousands of Reflektas in every street!” she cheered, spinning now that her first to victims were claimed to start blasting shots out at random around the courtyard. 

It was pandemonium, everyone screaming and dashing for whatever cover they could find as more and more people were transformed. Ivan got hit as he ran with Nino, Jérémy, Adrien, and the younger girl into a classroom that wasn't very far away. Three other students Adrien didn't know dove in with them as well. Jérémy slammed the door shut and leaned on it as everyone eyed Ivan wearily.

“Dude... you good?” Nino tried as they noticed he wasn't turning on them.

“I-I'm a _girl_!” Ivan's panicked voice came out in horror, as the Reflekta clone tugged at her skirt like she could tear it off to uncover the real boy beneath. 

“Get down, she's coming this way!” another of the students hissed, everyone sinking to the floor and pressing themselves up against the wall. 

“So, Ivan is still Ivan, even though he's been transformed, right?” Adrien quietly confirmed. The tall girl in pink nodded.

There was a loud shout of “No one leaves here!” followed by a series of crashes that drew everyone to peak out the windows.

However, unnoticed to any of them as they were preoccupied with their own survival, the blond model crawled across the ground as stealthily as he could manage and popped the lock on one of the windows on the opposite wall. Lifting carefully, he slipped out and rolled into the grass outside the school building, only the sounds of screaming students following him from the building.

Quickly glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, he called, “Plagg, transform moi!” A moment later his silvery pole deposited him softly on the roof of his collège. Dropping instinctively down on to all fours, Chat prowled to the edge of the roof and took in the scene going on below. 

All around were cowering, sobbing figures, curled in on themselves as they tried to hide their garish appearances and panicked about losing their sense of self. Meanwhile the akuma stalked around the school confidently, searching out further prey to transform into copies of herself. The problem was the remaining children yet to be affected by the akuma's powers were trapped within the school along side their predator, so the best action on his part would be to focus first on getting the civilians to safety.

He dropped carefully down onto the railing of the second floor walkway when the akuma had her back turned to stick her head in a classroom before quickly jumping to the courtyard below. He stepped up against the wall and made his way along it on all fours, slipping under the stairwell as he inched closer to the main doors of the school. The pile of lockers Reflekta had thrown there to block the door would be easy enough for Chat to lift and move aside. He just had to be careful about it and hopefully the akuma wouldn't notice before he had cleared their path.

“Hey, guys! Look! Chat Noir's come to save us!” Nino's voice suddenly called excitedly from behind the cat-boy.

Spinning on his DJ friend, Chat let out something that was almost a hiss as he held his hand up in a silencing gesture. However, it was too late as Reflekta leaned over the railing and fired two consecutive blasts at the hero. Chat sprung out from under the stairs to avoid the first and flipped over the second, there was no point hiding any longer so the next best plan of action was to quickly clear the barricade and then keep the akuma focused on himself while the civilians made a run for it on their own.

Reflekta ran to where she had a better angle on the nimble hero, but his speed was superior as he ran about the courtyard on all fours, dodging her every attempt to hit him. He knew, though, that he couldn't rely on this forever, he could already feel the mounting static building under his skin. He had to put the akuma out of commission, but with no Ladybug present he couldn't risk just outright defeating her lest he accidentally released the akuma too early. Therefore he had to find another way to detain her while he cleared the area of potential casualties. 

Then he spotted it, the basketball hoop hanging up ahead. He jumped to avoid another blast and grabbed the hoop from the side, as though he had just thrown a slam dunk. However, instead of dropping back down, he swung his legs back and forth until the whole hoop ripped clean off the backboard. Then, being fleet of foot, Chat Noir leapt to the second floor banister and slipped the hoop over the akuma's head, pinning her arms to her side.

“Oh, yes, that's a very good look on you! You accessorize that so well!” Chat chided as the akuma growled in rage. He then jumped down and sped to the pile of lockers. He didn't have time to lift them all up and set them aside as she could still turn her body and shoot her laser at him, even with her reduced mobility. Therefore, his only option was to quickly dissolve the whole thing. 

“Help us, Chat Noir!” one of the transformed students called, peaking from a doorway.

“I don't want to stay a girl all my life, hurry up!” Ivan complained from another door.

“Catac--” was all he got out when a pressure suddenly struck the middle of his back. His eyes filled with pink light and then it faded away to leave him suddenly not seeing the eighth colour any more. “Huh?”

“It's better like this!” Reflekta called, and Chat turned to see her standing, hoop free, in the middle of the courtyard with her wrist extended. A quick glance at himself proved that Chat (or was he back to being Adrien now? What happened to Plagg? His senses were back to normal...) had been hit. “I hate cats!”

“Cataclysm!” he tried calling, but he felt no surge of power being bestowed onto him and looked down at his hands to verify. Sure enough, there was no spots of dark energy, no fireworks of the eighth colour, and most disturbing of all, no ring. “My ring! My Miraculous! It disappeared!”

Reflekta grinned sadistically at the now powerless hero. But a purple mask covered her face suddenly and another voice had much to say about the situation. “ _His Miraculous! You should have taken it before transforming him!_ ”

“What? Don't worry! We'll just focus on getting Ladybug's Miraculous first! Without her precious kitty partner to protect her and keep her safe, Ladybug ought to be easy to overpower! Then once we have her Miracle Cure, he can be turned back and it's only a matter of time before we get his ring, too!” Reflekta assured, causing Chat to grit his teeth at the sound of her plan as she laughed and walked away. “Now, where are you, Chloé Bourgeois?!”

~*~

Marinette went up to the principal's office and knocked on the door, hoping there was something she could say to the man to change his mind without Chloé whispering in his other ear. She really didn't know what else to do, but she had to do something or else everyone would hate her. When she got no answer, she tried the handle and found it unlocked, so she carefully turned it and pushed the door open an inch, calling out a tentative “M Damocles...?” as she did so.

Yet when she opened the door, she found no one present. Slipping in the room, she looked around, wondering if they just stepped out for a moment and maybe she could stay here and wait for them to return. Tikki took the privacy of the closed door to come out of Marinette's purse and speak to hir holder. “What are you going to do?”

“I don't know!” the blunette admitted, tugging at her pigtails in frustration. “If I don't fix things, everyone will hate me again!”

“Hmmm,” the red kwami hummed in contemplation. “Well, first thing you need to do if you really want to solve this is lift that poor girl's curse.”

“Wait, you mean there really is a curse?” the designer questioned, surprised.

“Of course! Did you think Miraculous magic was the only magic that existed? Someone cursed that girl, and a long time ago by the feel of it. Probably as retaliation against a parent, given how young she is, like what happened in the fable Sleeping Beauty!” ze explained.

“But-but then how do I break the curse? Do I have to kiss her? That's how the curse was broken in the movie!” Marinette panicked.

“Well, that _would_ work if you were soulmates, but no. You have an easier method as Ladybug! Haven't you noticed one of your spells is literally about purifying evil possessing something?” Tikki reminded.

“You mean when I purify akuma? But-but an akuma didn't cause this curse, right?”

Ze just shook hir little head. “The spell wasn't initially meant for akuma. The Butterfly Miraculous is supposed to be an ally of ours, it's powers used to strengthen wielders as they battled outside evils. It's only been turned against us now because it has fallen into the wrong hands. That spell is meant to purify that which fell prey to corruption in any form it takes, including curses.”

“Okay, so then what, I just swing up to Juleka and be all 'I free you from evil' out of nowhere like that?” she asked incredulously.

“Um... yes?” Tikki hazarded. 

Marinette put her face in her hands to muffle a sound somewhere between a groan and a shriek. “But that still leaves the photo! How am I going to get them to change their minds? Oooh...” she whined in frustration. She looked over to where the camera sat on the principal's desk and curiosity got the better of her. Picking up the camera, she turned it on and moved to the viewing screen. She knew for a fact that she at least was not smiling and sitting nicely when the flash went off. The photographer seemed to be very intent on the art of the picture, perhaps she could appeal to that side of him if she pointed out how poorly the picture turned out?

She looked at the picture in question and it really was a bit of a mess. Not only was she mid-shout with her hand in the air, but Chloé had her arm around Adrien's neck, pulling him over into a hunch and was holding his cheeks to keep him from looking around. If she just showed him this image and pointed out all the things wrong with it, surely he'd agree to take another photo? But what if she couldn't sway him like that? And even if she could, what if M Damocles still said 'no' because of Chloé? Then everyone would know how useless she was and how she couldn't do her job and go back to hating her, and Adrien would realize she wasn't worth his time and stop talking to her and tell his father how much of a waste of space she was and then Gabriel would blacklist her from the industry and ban her from ever seeing Adrien again and then she wouldn't be able to become a designer and marry Adrien and buy a house and have three kids and a hamster named--

“Breathe, Marinette!” Tikki reminded her, hovering in hir holder's face. “You're spiralling again.”

“Oh, Tikki! It's horrible! What if I can't convince them the picture is bad enough to need to have it retaken? How can I count on the fact they'll listen to me?” she worried aloud. “Oooh, if only they hadn't managed to take the picture before the lunch bell rang! Everything would have been so much easier if the picture never existed in the first place, then they'd _have_ to take another one with Juleka in it! I...” but then an idea started to form in her head. It wasn't exactly a good idea, but she wasn't really thinking logically at the moment. And it would solve almost all her problems. “Maybe... maybe the picture should disappear? If it did, then they would have to take it again...”

“Marinette, no! There must be another way! You haven't even attempted to convince them the picture is no good!” Tikki tried to reason.

“There's no time! I have to break Juleka's class photo jinx before the photographer leaves the school! And if I don't get rid of the picture that's already on here, I can't be sure he'll be willing to take another one!”

Just then, the door burst open and Chloé and Sabrina stood in the doorway, Chloé with her phone out and being held up and Sabrina blocking the exit. “Well, well, well! Caught red-handed Marinette Dupain-Cheng! The principal would love my video of you snooping around in his office!” she crowed, showing off the video of Marinette's voice insisting she would delete the picture followed by the door opening to show the girl in question standing and holding the camera.

“Ah!” she panicked as Sabrina laughed in the background. This was just getting worse and worse. Realizing she was cornered, Marinette resorted to a threat of her own. “Gimme your phone or I really will delete the photo!”

“Yeah, right! I already have proof of you intending to, so you doing so will just be the nail in your coffin!” Chloé countered.

“You're right, but I'll have nothing left to lose, while you'll have everything! Prepare to say bye-bye to your picture next to Adrien, because the class photo will have to be retaken and then Juleka will be standing next to him like she should be, not you!”

Chloé stilled as realization of the ultimatum dawned on her. If Marinette deleted the picture, she won. Even if she got in trouble for it, she was still the winner because she got what she wanted and Chloé didn't. However, if Chloé surrendered her phone... “Fine, but only on the condition you hand the camera over to Sabrina at the same time.”

“Deal,” Marinette agreed, holding the camera out in one hand while she reached for the phone with the other. As soon as the camera was in her hands, Sabrina took the memory card out while at the same moment Marinette was deleting the video evidence of the whole encounter. 

The three girls eyed each other, slightly unsure how to proceed until they heard screams erupt from outside the room. Sabrina cautiously stuck her head out into the hall to see Reflekta in the courtyard below, shooting her lasers at students attempting to flee. Squeaking in fright, Sabrina firmly slammed the door shut and locked it in one motion. “An akuma is down there, attacking everyone!” she relayed to the other two girls as she leaned her back against the door.

Chloé squeaked, turning an ashen shade, and Sabrina peeled herself from the door to hurry forward and wrap her arms around Chloé's rib cage. Chloé returned the embrace, her arms around the smaller girl's shoulders, fingers clinging to the white cotton of Sabrina's shirt. “The-the principal's office is usually locked if he's not in. If we're quiet, then it shouldn't be too strange the room is sealed. We should be safe in here,” the redhead reasoned, though if she were trying to comfort herself or Chloé with that statement, Marinette couldn't tell.

The blunette, hardly about to join her two bullies in cowering together for comfort, inched her way around the desk and sank down so she could be out of sight. She didn't know what to do, she couldn't exactly sneak out of here unnoticed, and she definitely couldn't transform with them in the room. There was no plausible reason for her to leave the room that wouldn't just raise more questions than was safe. She quietly snapped the clasp on her purse open and stared down into the large worried blue eyes of her kwami. “Oh, Tikki, what am I going to do?” she whispered.

Some loud clangs and booms were heard, causing Chloé to sink lower in Sabrina's hold and whimper out, “I want my Papa...”

“Oh Chloé...” Sabrina soothed, rubbing circles into the taller girl's back.

Chloé's hand automatically reached down to check for her phone in her pockets where she usually kept it, intending to call for someone to come and save her, only for her searching fingers to come up short. It took her a moment to remember why, and then she scoffed. “Ugh, Dupain-Cheng, give me back my phone!”

“Then give me the memory card!” Marinette snipped.

“What, so you can delete my class picture with Adrichou? In your dreams!”

“Well, if you don't give me the card, I'm keeping the phone.”

“Fine, I can just buy a new one! Sabrina, give me your phone so I can call my Papa!”

“Sure thing, Chloé,” Sabrina chirped happily, handing over her smartphone instead.

She dialed the number and whined into the phone the moment it connected. “Papa! Those horrid akuma monsters are attacking again! Send someone to come rescue me! Send Ladybug!”

“Do you really think Ladybug is on the Mayor's payroll?” Marinette questioned once Chloé hung up the phone. 

“Of course not! Ladybug is a heroine! Don't you know anything about superheroes? They always show up to save the day, and Ladybug is practically my personal superheroine with how many times she's saved me from the evil akuma! Of course Ladybug will come to save me, I'm her favourite civilian, she even said I'm adorable!” the blond girl insisted.

“And I say you're delusional,” Marinette groused back. The girls spent a moment glaring at each other before settling in on opposite sides of the room, pointedly not looking in the other's direction. Slowly, the shouts and screams died down, and after a time all that filled their little hiding spot was the rhythmic ticking of the clock up on M Damocles' wall. 

After a time where they heard nothing, Chloé asked, “Hey, do you think Ladybug beat the akuma yet?”

“There haven't been those swarms of ladybugs of hers yet, so probably not,” Marinette pointed out.

“Maybe the akuma left the school property and moved on to somewhere else?” Sabrina suggested.

There was a beat of uncertainty and unease, before Marinette asked, “Should-should we check?”

“Sabrina, go see if the coast is clear!” Chloé ordered.

“Why are you sending her?!” Marinette demanded.

“Oh puh-lease! Like I'd be stupid enough to trust disaster girl Dupain-Cheng to do something so coordinated as sneaking a peak in a dangerous area! You'd probably trip into the akuma's line of sight in the first five seconds and give away our location in the process!” the heiress argued back.

“Well, then why don't you go?” she challenged.

“Moi? I'm far too important! If Le Papillon got his hands on me, I'm a political hostage and he could force anyone to do anything to ensure my safety!”

“It's alright, Marinette, I'm very good at getting around unnoticed,” Sabrina assured. “Also, the akuma don't really scare me as much because I'm not someone important enough to be targeted.”

Sabrina moved quiet as a mouse over to the door and unlocked it, waited a moment where she listened for any new sounds outside the room, before softly turning the handle and easing the office door open a wedge. She carefully stepped out and moved towards the handrail over the edge of which she could see a couple of the Reflektas standing around and apparently arguing given their stances.

Then the one in the centre of the courtyard suddenly raised her voice loudly, calling, “Now, where are you, Chloé Bourgeois?!”

Marinette and Chloé had crept up to the door and were peaking past the frame behind her, and Chloé gasped at the declaration. Sabrina moved to return to the safety of the office, but Marinette instead yanked the door further open and bolted past both bullies, scrambling along in a half-crawl as she scurried for the stairwell that lead to the roof. The motion of the door moving caught Reflekta's attention and both Chloé and Sabrina attempted to make a run for it in the opposite direction from Marinette.

The roof access was a narrow stairwell that was generally off-limits to the student body. There was a chain with a plastic sign hanging off of it declaring it so, and it was well known that the door at the top was only ever unlocked for the janitorial staff when maintenance was required to be preformed on the roof, the drainpipes, or the school's wiring. As such, with no where to hide up the stairwell, no one would take refuge in such an out-of-the-way place. No one, but Marinette, who had a secret key that others didn't.

“Tikki! The door!” Marinette instructed as she slipped under the chain and began scrambling up the steps. The little red kwami phased out of her purse and shot like a bullet towards the door handle, phasing through it and twisting all the locking mechanisms into place to undo the lock as ze flew. Therefore, when Marinette reached the top of the stairwell, there was no resistance as she twisted the handle and threw herself out onto the deserted roof. After a few deep breaths to steady her racing heart, the blunette announced, “There's no time to lose! Tikki, transform moi!”

~*~

Reflekta spotted the carrot orange and bright blond of Sabrina and Chloé as they attempted to flee from their compromised hiding spot. “Ah, there you are,” she practically purred. With a few mighty leaps she jumped from the courtyard to the handrail of the stairs, and then the banister surrounding the upper walkway, before landing on the path just as her prey attempted to squirrel away in another classroom. “Chloé Bourgeois!”

Turning to the akuma, a flash of fear filled the girl's eyes before she squared her shoulder and strutted forward, confident and regal as her title of Princess of Paris might imply. “And can we know who you are?”

Reflekta stepped up, almost nose-to-nose with Chloé, causing the blond to lose some of her bravado for a moment, before she boldly pulled it back up around her like a safety blanket, looking down her nose at her challenger like she would any other pathetic mortal that tried to stand against her. Reflekta sneered at Chloé in response, “Take a good look, you brat, because _this_ is what you're going to look like from now on.”

“Ew, no. Have you _seen_ yourself? You look like a third-rate designer attempting avant-garde's closet vomited all over you!” Chloé stated, making a face like something rotten had just been shoved under her nose.

“Hmph! We'll see about that!” Reflekta countered, and Chloé tried to bolt but was quickly hit in the back by a pink beam.

Chloé gave a horrified shriek, looking down at her new gaudy outfit in some rubbery texture before wheeling on the akuma with a snarl. “Are you nuts?! Do you have any idea how much my outfit costs?! It was haute couture!”

“You should thank me. You're a thousand times better dressed like this!” 

Chloé let out a sound that somewhat resembled a banshee as she reached out with no fear at all and grabbed a handful of the frill surrounding the akuma's neck, yanking so they were nose-to-nose again. “Now you listen here, you fashion disaster! You will reverse what you did to me _right now_ and then grovel at my feet for forgiveness or I will make you very _very_ sorry you ever even crawled out of your whore of a mother's womb!”

The akuma actually looked cowed by the heiress's threat, eyes going wide with fear and long-habituated obedience. “I-I don't know how! I can transform people, not turn them back!” Reflekta admitted tearfully. 

“Well, then I guess this is on you, then, huh?” Chloé stated, eyes narrowing threateningly.

But what exactly was on her was never found out as Ladybug dropped down, separating them. “That's enough!”

“This is her fault to begin with! She never should have locked me in the bathroom!” Reflekta yelled, causing both of the other girls to gasp.

“Couffaine?!” Chloé finally recognized.

“Juleka, stop this! This isn't the way to be happy!” Ladybug pleaded.

“It's over, I'm no longer the Juleka no one noticed! I am now Reflekta! The one and only, that everyone sees!” the akuma yelled boldly.

“One and only? Hardly! With how you're transforming everyone, you're going to end up just as invisible as ever! No one will see you, because no one can tell you apart from anyone else!” Chloé countered crossing her arms and cocking a hip.

Reflekta flinched as this revelation hit, only for Papillon to contact her again. “ _Don't listen to that spiteful bully. You are beautiful, and everyone will know you because every time they look in the mirror, or see another person walking down the street, they will remember you! Now just don't forget to take Ladybug's earrings before you transform her!_ ”

“I-yes, I... they will all remember me forever...” Reflekta repeated softly. “I'm certain you'll adore your new style, too, Ladybug!”

“Thanks, but no thanks! This look suits me just fine!” she countered, letting her yo-yo fly at the akuma.

“Your loss, just ask Chat Noir. I'm sure he adores his new look!” Reflekta said, side-stepping the yo-yo and firing a blast at Ladybug. The heroine dove off the side of the landing, hitting the ground in a forward roll to avoid the first beam and jumping aside to avoid the next. She then began running around trying to dodge as Reflekta shot down at her like a fish in a barrel. 

Chat, who had been spending the last two or three minutes trying to manually move the pile of lockers one at a time without super strength in order to get the civilians to safety, and whom Ladybug had failed to notice due to him looking identical to all the other transformed victims at the moment, turned at the repeated sounds of blasts firing. His eyes widened as he watched Ladybug take refuge under the walkway, only for Reflekta to jump down in pursuit of her.

“I may not have my powers anymore, but I can't just sit back and do nothing!” he talked himself up to face the danger without protection, and tried to run forward to confront the akuma, only to stumble after a few steps due to the platform shoes his new outfit came with. “Who invented these things?” he complained as he looked down at the shoes.

He wouldn't be useful in a fight like this if he couldn't move, he couldn't be everywhere fast enough to keep her safe and watch her back. He scanned the courtyard for an idea, noticing all the other transformed students and staff standing around and staring from the windows and corners. Resignation of what he had to do dawned on him and walking the fastest he could in three-inch platform heals, he made his way to the first door and opened it up. “If you want to get your appearance back, listen to me! We're gonna have to stick together.”

Meanwhile, by this time Ladybug's fight had progressed to the vertical as well as the horizontal. Ladybug ran across the roof of the collège, chased by Reflekta as she swerved to dodge. As she neared the end of the roof, she leapt over the edge and landed a moment on the stone banister for the stairs leading up to the library before jumping away again and grabbing one of the support poles that held the glass ceiling up over the inner walkway of the school. Using it to swing on, she threw herself back towards the other side and landed beside the alcove of the school entrance. 

Stepping underneath of the cover, she waited until Reflekta came into view again and threw out her yo-yo to try counterattacking. Reflekta used the beam to knock Ladybug's magic yo-yo out of it's trajectory, and the heroine had to quickly reel her weapon back in so she could have another shot. She tried again, attempting to throw the weighted end even harder, but to the same results, the akuma not even slowing down her encroach and Ladybug stepping back to maintain distance without even realizing it after every failed throw. 

And what was worse was the other Reflektas in the background that had remained docile and out-of-the-way (save for the Chloé one) up until this point had began flooding out of the rooms they had into the courtyard. She hadn't been counting them as dangerous, as Chloé hadn't seemed to be under any sort of mind-control, but had the akuma gotten tired of their little game of tag and decided to pull out all the stops? She had to hurry before her army got involved.

Again and again she tried, desperate to do something of use against this opponent. For a fleeting moment, Ladybug's eyes flitted towards the roofs, looking for the tell-tale black creeping along into position to strike, to save her, before reminding herself that the akuma had claimed to have already gotten him. Was that what the crashing around had been? Her partner struggling against such a dangerous opponent all alone while she was trapped hiding in a room until he fell without her? Or was that just a ruse to make her lose hope and get distracted by her grief and worry?

If it was real, that meant the akuma had to have already gotten his Miraculous, right? That was even more of an incentive for why she had to take down Reflekta, no matter what. If only something—anything—she did had some effect. Her heel hitting solid stone jolted the heroine back to reality as she realized she had managed to corner herself, the Reflekta swarm already upon them and the Reflekta prime none the worse for the wear.

“In a few seconds, like everyone here, you'll be a perfect copy of myself,” Reflekta gloated. In one last ditch effort, Ladybug attempted to throw a punch at the akuma's face, but her wrist was caught and pulled to an angle by the taller girl that Ladybug couldn't get the leverage from to pull free. “But before that, I'm going to take your earrings for a trophy!”

“Fat chance!” Chloé's voice suddenly sounded from behind Reflekta, and a hand of one of the swarm reached out and yanked back hard on the ruffles around Reflekta's neck, preventing the startled akuma from being able to reach the earrings. 

A moment later, another Reflekta stepped up protectively in front of Ladybug, grabbing the arm that still held her wrist and prying the akuma's fingers loose. “Let Milady go!”

“Ch-Chat...?” Ladybug questioned in awe as her arm was freed and the akuma was pulled further and further into the swarm. “You... made a lynch mob...?” she asked incredulously as dozens of hands from all around the akuma reached to grab and pull and restrain the girl that had stolen their identities and turned them into something they weren't.

The Reflekta that Ladybug was pretty sure was Chat looked a little ashamed. “I... couldn't protect you by myself like this...”

A scream of what sounded like honest fear rose from the mobbed akuma and caused several of the attackers to recoil in hesitation. Reflekta took advantage of that hesitance to break herself free of the holds on her and leap above the crowd. She landed on someone's face, but didn't pause as she made a break for the opposite side of the courtyard and up onto the roof. This place was no longer her own little hunting ground if those she granted her beautiful visage to would turn on her like that.

“I'm gonna show you who's stronger between us, Ladybug, you'll see!” Reflekta called back as she fled into the city.

“You're gonna help us, right Ladybug?” a transformed girl asked.

“We want to get our bodies back!” Ivan lamented.

“Don't worry, I'll take care of her,” Ladybug assured, looking over everyone. 

“I hope, because with these things there's enough to break a paw,” Chat complained looking down at his platform shoes again.

“Okay, I got to make sure, are you really Chat Noir?” Ladybug asked, eyeing him speculatively. 

The usually cat-themed hero looked at his partner a moment before grabbing her wrist and dragging her purposefully through the crowd. “Excuse us for a second, we need some privacy!” He looked around until he found an empty classroom before leading her inside and closing out any eavesdroppers. Once he was sure it was just the two of them, he turned to Ladybug with his suavest smile. “Well, Miss Maladroite, how shall I prove my identity to you? Would you have me confess my undying love and adoration for you?” he asked, dropping dramatically to one knee, holding his left hand over his heart and reaching out to her with his right one.

She tried to hold her laughter in, she really, really did, but his over-the-top hammy acting mixed with the ridiculous outfit the akuma was putting on everyone, she couldn't help but giggle. She was so busy doing so she didn't catch the slight flinch in his face and posture at being laughed at to his face the very first time he used the L-word to describe his feelings towards her. But he soothed it with a balm of reassurance that he was, after all, mostly joking and at least he made her laugh.

“What, can't recognize my stellar good looks and boundless charisma?” he continued to play, standing up and making a few anime cat poses just for good measure. 

“Chat, stop!” she continued to laugh, struggling to get a hold of herself. “Seriously, Minou, what about your Miraculous?”

His playful air fell away. “Gone. It vanished, as did all of my superpowers, the moment I got hit with that blast. I heard the akuma tell Papillon that the plan is to corner you without backup and take you down while I'm incapacitated like this, and then use the Miracle Cure themselves to get me my ring back. Then it would just be a matter of time before I would fall.”

“We can't let that happen,” Ladybug insisted. 

“No, which is why I'll be going along to back you up in this confrontation, no matter what you say about it.”

“Right, so, any idea where the akuma could be hiding?” she asked, ready to get down to business, knowing there was no point arguing with him. 

“There doesn't seem to be any features on her victims that are different between herself and those she transforms, so I guess you could check me out for anything unusual,” Chat said suggestively.

Ladybug flushed and sputtered out a “Chat! You help too!” over his sniggering. 

“Oh, I check you out plenty, ma puce,” he assured casually, just to get her to flush again, even as he obediently started looking his costume over.

After a bit, they were in agreement, “There's not really any accessories on the outfit, but this thing on my hand that Reflekta shoots her lasers out of, it's the only thing on the whole outfit that's akuma-purple.”

“It would be a safe bet to break it regardless, but I think you're right. Now just to get her somewhere where we control the battlefield and your reduced mobility and speed won't hinder you from helping me fight her.”

They headed back out of the classroom and into the courtyard where Ladybug threw her yo-yo to prepare her swing out of the school when she paused and looked over her shoulder at Reflekta-Chat. “Oh, I-I guess if none of your powers work, you're gonna need a hand, huh?” she hesitantly reached out an arm towards her partner, and the taller figure stepped up and slipped his arms around her neck so they were chest to chest with Ladybug's arm around his midsection. 

It felt a little odd to hold him close like this, though they had been in similar positions more than once it had always been Chat to initialize them, usually in the heat of battle. Though logic told her it was his arms around her neck, the feel of another female body pressed against her own, lithe and tall as it was, was so different to that of being held against his broad chest. But as much as the feeling was not all together unpleasant, the scent that hit her nose made this whole thing even more awkward. Gone was the leather, spice, cheese, and boy that usually accompanied the times they had been close before, replaced instead by the strong acridic scent of newly-opened plastic. 

They travelled a few blocks over rooftop before Ladybug stopped and put her partner down. “Wait here, I'll be back soon!” she announced before zipping off. She had to take a slightly round-about route to get back to her room without anyone knowing where she was going, but when she made her way back to the roof it was with a red and green plaid scarf lined with tassels. 

Tying it around his neck was a little awkward because not only was Juleka a good half-head taller than her, but the platform shoes added another several inches to the height, meaning Ladybug barely reached Chat's shoulder with him transformed like this. But he dipped forward slightly to let her have her way with him, standing perfectly still and silent as she fussed over the lay of the cloth, only straitening up and reaching to finger one of the tassels that hung over his chest delicately once she was sure it was securely in place. “There, now I'll be able to tell you apart from every other Reflekta at a glance. Sorry it doesn't really match with the rest of the outfit, but it shouldn't get in the way or fall off while we fight!”

If Chat were capable of blushing in this body, he was sure his face would have lit up a bright red. His Lady had given him a scarf, and not just any scarf, but he could tell by the soft smell wafting off of it that the scarf belonged to her in her civilian life. She was the sort of girl to wear decorative scarves as an accessory. She was the sort to wear rich, vibrant colours. He racked his brain for something to say, some way to express how much this one small gesture meant to him. “This red really clashes with this pink,” he managed to get out instead.

“Yeah, it does...” she agreed. “Sorry, it was the best I had available.”

“A-anyway, I was thinking while I waited on the best way to deal with the akuma!” he quickly changed the subject.

“Oh? And what's that?” 

“Well, attacking Reflekta head-on isn't the best solution. Unless you want a makeover. So setting up an ambush would be the best option. We should try and find somewhere recognizable enough that she could find us, but with only one entrance so we could lay our trap. Then, we just send out our invitation to her and lay in wait, similar to what we did in the fight with Lady WiFi.”

“Only she never walked into our ambush and we ended up walking into hers instead,” Ladybug reminded. “And how exactly would we get the 'invitation' out to her?”

“I don't know,” Chat admitted, shoulders slumping.

“Lady WiFi... Lady WiFi...” Ladybug muttered to herself, eyes going unfocused as she tried to plan. “That's it! Oh, Chat, you're a genius!” she suddenly exclaimed, a wide grin crossing her lips. “Come on, let's go!”

Chat's breath hitched as Ladybug carelessly pulled the taller figure against her, too swept up in her excitement to notice their intimate proximity. “O-oh? And where might we be headed, if I might ask?”

“To the TV station! Mind your hairdo!” Ladybug announced, adding a smirk and a quick side-eye to the moulded hunk of plastic stuck to his head where his blond locks should have been.

“That's really not funny,” Chat pointed out with a pout.

“You didn't just lose your looks, Chat Noir, you also lost your sense of humour!” she jibed. 

“Hey, it's your loss if you don't turn me back! You'll never get to card your fingers through my luscious blond locks or stare deeply into my mesmerizing green eyes again!”

“Oh my god! You are so full of yourself!”

~*~

Reflekta ran from Collège Françoise Dupont when everyone had turned against her. She knew better than to let herself be out-numbered by that common riffraff. How dare they attack her like that, when she granted them the honour of appearing like her perfect self? They were supposed to use those looks she gave them to make sure everyone remembered her always! How else was she to avoid fading into obscurity? 

But if they wanted to be ungrateful idiots, then fine! They were the ones to ignore her in the first place, why should she then give them such a gift? She'd just find other, more worthy people to spread her beauty and image with. She landed atop the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile and stared down at all the tourists milling about, taking photographs. She wanted to be recorded and remembered in a photograph like that, but she was cursed to invisibility.

Tormented by her fate, Reflekta aimed down at the people posing for pictures and started shooting. It wouldn't be her, but if they all looked the same, at least she could pretend she had a face that didn't cause cameras to break. But instead of taking her pictures for her, the people screamed and ran like swarming ants beneath her. They were useless, disgusting! She'd have to try again elsewhere. She started up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées spreading her gift to everyone she saw. It would be wondrous, her face would be everywhere, even if she could never be caught on film. She would be seen by everyone everywhere they looked, and she would be remembered.

~*~

It was an interesting world when it was faster and easier to enter places from the roof of the building than it was the main entrance. Ladybug and Chat Noir sped down the stairwell as quickly as the cat-boy's platforms would let him. “Well, good thing about running all over the place in these things is I'm certainly getting more accustomed to wearing them!” he announced as they exited the stairs on the executive floor.

“Good for you, Minou, now you can wear them with pride as you strut around town in your civilian guise without worrying about breaking your neck!” 

“...Would you think less of me if I told you this very likely won't be the last time in my life I wear shoes like this?” Chat admitted, thinking back to the growing trend of runway styles that blurred the line between male and female fashion.

“I would respect any life choice you made, Chat. There's nothing wrong with feeling curious about experimenting as the other gender, or transitioning completely, for that matter,” she assured.

“What? No, no! I just... know someone who's a designer, and I sometimes try things on for them is all,” Chat assured.

“Identities, Chat Noir!” Ladybug hissed.

“This is Paris, one of the primary fashion centres of the world, how many designers—aspiring and official—do you think are in this city?”

Ladybug opened her mouth to retort, but then paused as she realized he was right, there likely were a lot of other designers around. “Still, be careful what you say! We can't know each other's identities!”

She then dropped the topic as she reached an official looking door and barged in. The people in the room all startled at her entrance, staring open mouth at the heroine who entered, and a little fearfully at the akuma that followed. “This is the room Climatika used to broadcast to all of Paris, right?”

“I-erm-yes,” the woman who was clearly the boss of the room said, turning away from where Alec Cataldi was wrapping up his game-show on set.

“Can you do that again, or was that just some magic stuff that let Climatika do it?” Ladybug pressed.

“We can, at least to the broadcast channels our company owns, but it costs a lot of money to do something like that,” the woman responded, still eyeing Chat Noir suspiciously.

“Please! We need to commandeer the use of the building for the akuma attack going on!” Ladybug insisted desperately.

The woman didn't look very moved by the altruistic words of Ladybug, so Chat Noir stepped forward with all the business cunning his father and Nathalie had forced down his throat. “You know, speaking of the Climatika incident, that really was entirely your company's fault...”

The woman's eyes narrowed and Ladybug whipped around to stare aghast at him. “Chat?!”

“Given the public knowledge about the source of akumatization, certain individuals might say that your employee's blatant slander of an under-aged girl made to bully and humiliate her for her loss to the utmost was akuma-baiting... It might be argued, in those circumstances, that the victim was set up by your employee for the explicit purpose of priming his target for akumatization. And given your company _obviously_ failed to take these actions into account with the gravity they hold and provide proper consequences for your employee, (he pointedly looked over her shoulder to where Cataldi was working as popular as ever) these individuals might just imply your company promotes the actions which are publicly known to lead to akumatization...” Chat trailed off, looking at the woman side-eyed as he fiddled with his false nails.

The woman in question looked affronted at the accusations. “Are you... trying to _blackmail_ me?!”

“Oh, of course not!” Chat assured. “Just pointing out how it might look better for the courts to have actively helped the Heroes of Paris of your own volition once the courts catch up with the fact your company endorsed the acts of a known terrorist. Or, perhaps, are even affiliated with...? And to even sweeten the pot further, how about a trade? You give us this airtime we need to stop an active terrorist attack, get the credit of being such an upstanding company, _and_ an exclusive half-hour interview with the Heroes of Paris? Think quickly now, we don't have a lot of time, and you aren't the only news station in Paris.”

She took in the akuma—Ladybug had referred to it as 'Chat' so she could only assume it was him—with his confident demeanour, no doubt perfectly happy to turn on his heel and march right back out of this room again leaving her with nothing but the veiled threat to their company's reputation. Her eyes flickered over to the heroine standing beside him, who did not look happy or impressed by his words, but was holding her tongue and would likely not go against any decision he made. She then looked back to the waiting boy (it was a boy, right? Even though the body was clearly currently female?) and sighed. “You better not try to back out on that exclusive later!”

And just like that the room jumped into action, preparing to make the broadcast and calling other offices so the building could be cleared out in preparation for the upcoming akuma fight. A minute into the bustle, a few people ran up to the heroes with brushes and makeup kits to do a rush job at making Ladybug look as presentable as possible. “Is there anything else you'll need, Mlle Ladybug?” what had to be an intern asked as someone brushed the tangles from her bangs.

Her eyes drifted over to her partner the best they could without her turning her head. “Perhaps if we could borrow a hat? Or a coat or something for Chat Noir? Maybe some sunglasses?”

The intern nodded, “Right away, Mademoiselle!” and scampered off to go and find the requested items.

Five minutes later Chat was picking through the armload of extra props the helpful intern had gathered, finding a hat and coat that could fit over the dress and hair Reflekta had stuck him with. He enjoyed himself as he pulled a slightly too-large brown tweed coat with patches sewn on the elbows on over the pink getup, imagining what his father would have to say if he knew this was his son doing this. The black hat like a 1920's detective and a pair of bright yellow star-shaped sunglasses soon joined them in adorning him in the most clashing outfit in the history of ever, if one were to trust the horrified expression on Ladybug's face and the way her lower left eye-lid twitched of it's own volition. Chat just burst into snickers at her look causing her to groan and roll her eyes at his clowning around.

Then they were standing before the camera as a skeleton staff of brave volunteers manned the station and made sure the broadcast ran like the heroes had requested. As the cameraman signalled down the count with his fingers, Ladybug took one last calming breath. Then they were signalled it was go time. “Parisians, Parisians! Reflekta isn't invincible, and you can help us to defeat her. All you have to do is put on a costume as Chat here has done,” Ladybug indicated her partner who was pulling modelling poses as though he was showing off on a runway, “so we will be able to find the real Reflekta and put her out of action! Once you are transformed, she can't do anything to hurt you, and you can work together with us to stop her! In half an hour, I'll make my way to the Eiffel Tower to make my final stand. If you wish to help me, you can gather there in costume, otherwise, I request for your own safety that you remain indoors until my Miracle Cure can change everyone back.”

~*~

Reflekta leaned over the back of the sobbing Mayor's chair, watching the broadcast on the wall-mounted television across the room. “Like hell I'd be going to the Eiffel Tower after her saying something like that.”

“ _You must get me the Red Beetle Miraculous! If you don't I'll take your power back for good!_ ” Papillon's voice rang in her head.

“What's the rush? She's not going anywhere, so why should I walk into such an obvious trap? Let the people get exhausted of waiting while I spread my face further and further! That way I won't be walking into a mob poised to attack me!” Reflekta argued back.

“ _Or better yet, Ladybug said she wouldn't be leaving for the Eiffel Tower for thirty minutes, so go and ambush her at the TV station where she'll only have that declawed cat of hers to back her up!_ ” Papillon pushed.

“Turn me back! You have to turn me back! Please, I'll give you anything! You can't just leave me like this! There's no way my wife would ever come back to me if I look like this!” wailed the Mayor, clinging desperately to Reflekta's skirt with his mint green nails as he sobbed.

Reflekta looked down at the man who fell to his knees in front of her in tears. “What a pitiful creature, so small and easily broken...” she mused. “If you want your old face back, you need only assist me in obtaining the Red Beetle Miraculous from Ladybug. Once Papillon has her earrings, he can cast the cure and revert everyone back to the way they were before. Then all we need do is get the Black Cat Ring and _all_ these little akuma can just... go away. Wouldn't that be nice?”

“Bu-but, if I help Papillon get Ladybug's Miraculous, who will keep me and my daughter safe from all the akuma attacks?” Mayor Bourgeois hesitated. 

“Why, Papillon will! He controls all the akuma, it would be child's play for him to ensure you and your daughter remain unharmed during attacks by simply pointing the akuma in a different direction!”

~*~

“I'm counting on you all!”

“Aaaand... cut!” the cameraman stated when Ladybug finished her speech.

“Thank you again for everything, you should probably all clear out now before anything happens,” Ladybug said to the cameraman, waving him and the other staff goodbye.

Chat took the sunglasses off and put them on top of the hat he wore. “Sorry, but your plan, don't you find it a bit complicated? That many moving parts will be hard to manage.”

“Yeah, but that's not the real plan. It's just as you requested: a recognizable location where we control the battlefield, with only one entrance to guard,” Ladybug pointed out to him, gesturing around them. Then she bopped his nose. “And that just now was our invitation!”

Chat caught her hand as she went to drop it back down and pulled it to his lips instead. “And then all we'll have to do is wait, and she'll fall right into my claws.”

Ladybug's expression changed to one of heavily hooded eyes and a coy smirk gracing her lips as she placed her other hand on her cocked hip. “Don't you mean 'into your fake nails'?”

“Still not funny,” Chat deadpanned. Ladybug only laughed.

~*~

Ladybug tensed in her hiding spot on the stairs as the large red doors slammed open. Pink platform heels clicked rhythmically as the figure entered, brown eyes scanning around cautiously, but failed to pick out either hero from where they hid. They waited in their hiding spots until their opponent was fully past them into the room just in case she heard the yo-yo coming before Ladybug let it fly. 

With arms tangled to her sides, Reflekta spun to take in Ladybug kneeling on the steps. Before the mirror on the back of the akuma's hand could be levelled at her, Ladybug called out, “Chat Noir! Now!” Her partner, still dressed in his stupid hat and coat so she wouldn't mistake his identity on accident in the middle of battle, sprang from his own hiding place opposite hers and ran forward to wrestle the mirror away from her hand.

As Chat tossed her the akumatized object, Ladybug couldn't help but grin. They really were getting better at this, his plan to stage an ambush had been brilliant, and they had defeated the akuma with so little hassle now that they were both here fighting it. She dropped the little trinket onto the ground and smashed it beneath her heel, preparing to call her yo-yo back the moment the butterfly materialized out of it, and waited. 

And waited. 

And waited.

“Chat, something's wrong! The akuma didn't come out of the jewel! Quick, search her for anything else that might be akumatized!” Ladybug warned. 

Chat Noir began tugging on different parts of Reflekta's costume, searching for something that could be taken off and destroyed. However, nothing was giving. Ladybug didn't know what could have gone so wrong, she had thought Chat's plan had been a great success, after all. How had it backfired into them not even being able to find the akumatized object?

Chat paused and raised his eyes to the face that matched his in suspicion. “You know, it's kinda strange with how loud you were being earlier, that you haven't opened your mouth yet...”

“A decoy!” Ladybug gasped in horror. She spun to the door just in time to see the real Reflekta step around the corner of the frame, wrist already raised to attack.

Only for Reflekta to pause in horror at the sight of Chat Noir. “You! What on _Earth_ are you wearing?! How _dare you_ try to hide my beautiful visage under those atrocious garments?!”

Blinking in surprise at this, Chat paused in his attempt to get between Reflekta and his Lady like a human shield and let a grin pull across his features. Taking the bright yellow star sunglasses off of where they had been perched on the brim of his hat and put them on, before taking his hat off and doing a few impressive tricks of flipping it around before setting it back on the top of his plastic hair. “Oh please, I can make anything look good!”

“You really, _really_ can't,” Ladybug retorted without thinking.

But Reflekta just shrieked with rage and aimed her beam at the centre of his chest. He grunted, and stumbled back a step as if he had just been punched in the sternum, but otherwise was unaffected. He grinned. “Can't get rid of me that easily~” 

She shrieked in frustration and lunged forward, nailed fingers reaching for him like talons as she dove. Chat tipped his hat off and flipped it so her face planted in it's hollow underside. He held it against her face, blocking her vision, as he made a grab for her jewel, but her flailing arms made his attempt miss. She reached up, grabbed the offending cloth covering her face and pulled back, glaring at it as she threw it at the ground. Chat caught it on a toe and kicked it back up, managing to catch it on his elbow instead. He rolled the hat down his arm, across his back, and down to his opposite hand just in time to cap it over Reflekta's wrist just as she fired a blast off at Ladybug, the hat absorbing the hit with no ill effect.

While this was going on, Ladybug had dragged her prisoner over to herself by the string and began interrogating them. “Who are you? And why are you helping Papillon?!”

“I can't look like this! My life would be over! No one would ever vote for me if I look like this! My wife would never return if I look like this! It's all your fault! You turned on me in front of everyone during my election campaign! You chose to be my enemy! How could I put faith in you after that?!” the person tied up in her yo-yo string wailed.

“Mayor Bourgeois...?” Ladybug realized with sickening clarity.

“All I have to do is help get your earrings, and I will be turned back to normal! Papillon even promised me and my little Princess won't get hurt at all while he gets that pesky cat's ring!” the Mayor continued, caught up in his delusion.

“Are you _nuts_?! What part of 'terrorist' don't you understand? What even made you think that a person who resorts to mass-murder of innocent bystanders in order to get his way would even respect such a deal?! If you wanted to be changed back, all I have to do is purify the akuma—something I would have done by now if you hadn't gotten in the way!”

In the background, Chat's fight had somehow devolved into a fight over his hat. He was juggling it between hands with quick movements while an increasingly frustrated Reflekta was trying to grab it once and for all. Just to be the most annoying brat he could be, it seemed, Chat took his sunglasses off and perched them on the akuma's nose instead in the middle of all his slight-of-hand tricks. Reflekta leaned back, pulled the glasses off, and snapped them in half between her two hands for good measure before throwing them to the side. Chat responded to the loss of his eye-wear by shoving the hollow of his hat in her face again.

In her frustration, the akuma started firing her laser randomly, intent to try and strike Ladybug if she could. Luckily for the heroine, the first of her attacks went wide and drew Ladybug's attention to her. With a yelp, Ladybug pulled the Mayor's taller figure in front of herself as a shield, letting him take a hit or two for her as Chat wrestled with the akuma to get her wrist under his control and safely pointed away from his Lady. 

“How could you? Using a civilian as a meat-shield like this! And you call yourself a hero!” the Mayor accused of her after she forced him to take the first hit for her.

“You forfeited your right to be called a 'civilian' when you willingly sided with a terrorist! Now you're an 'accomplice' and they don't get the same rights as civilians do!” Ladybug argued back. She knew this arrangement couldn't last, her partner needed her as backup to stop this stalemate, but she couldn't risk letting M Bourgeois go and let him interfere again. Making up her mind, she hoisted him up by the string wrapped around him and carried him between her and the akuma as she made her way to the door. 

Meanwhile, Reflekta used her wrestling match against the cat-boy as a means to finally get the infuriating hat away from him and this time she threw it across the room for good measure. Once that was out of her way, her hand reached for the next offending piece of clothing she could rip off the infuriating jester of a boy, which happened to be a scarf tied around his neck. But Chat's eyes widened when he saw her grasping nails aiming for the scarf and he stepped back, twisting to keep his Lady's gift for him safe. 

Because of this motion, her reaching hand instead closed around the lapel of his coat, which was pulled from his shoulder due to his pulling away. Well, that was just as good, she supposed, lifting her foot and kicking Chat further away. He stumbled a few steps, the coat stretching out between the two as she held it by the back of the neck and all of it was off of him save for the cuffs around his hands, the sleeves completely inside out. Chat fisted what of the sleeve he could in this position and twisted his body around so they faced each other again, the coat wrapping around her hand. For the briefest of moments, the pair froze and took each other in, brains catching up with the situation they found themselves in, and then Chat was moving again, stepping around and looping his arm over Reflekta's head, moving in behind her, and effectively pinning her bound hand—jewel and all—to her chest. 

Ladybug shoved the Mayor rather unceremoniously out of the room, sending him spinning as she retracted her yo-yo, before slamming the door shut and flicking the lock in place for good measure. She then turned back to her partner fighting the real akuma and called “Lucky Charm!” watching as the little ladybugs re-formed together into an old-fashioned camera with a large flash bulb at the top of it. 

She blinked, thinking quickly, when a memory came back to her about that morning. Juleka has a photo curse, Tikki said she could cure it with her purification magic, but whenever anyone tried to take a picture of Juleka, something always went wrong. The picture would never turn out right and let Juleka be seen in it. And with such a large flash bulb, that had to mean something. 

Chat Noir struggled to keep his hold on the stronger girl, knowing he wouldn't last long but desperate to do what he could to save his Lady. Frustrated, Reflekta raised her foot and stomped down hard on Chat's inner ankle, causing him to have to let go and fall to the ground or else risk breaking something. Reflekta turned and prepared to stomp down on his face when he rolled to the side.

“Chat Noir! The lights!” he heard Ladybug yell as she ran up behind Reflekta, and so continued rolling until he reached the wall.

Chat tried to stand as a sharp sting shot up his leg the moment he tried to move the foot Reflekta had kicked. He let out a hiss and used the latticework to help pull himself to his feet. “Yep, definitely sprained...” he grabbed the latch on the power box and yanked it down, bathing the room in pitch blackness. It was slightly strange and unnerving to be facing an akuma and be unable to see anything.

Reflekta had stopped pursuing Chat Noir at Ladybug's shout, spinning instead to try and aim her wrist at the heroine, but the smaller girl nimbly danced around her for a few seconds before aiming the camera lens at the akuma. Reflekta froze when she realized what Ladybug was holding, and blinked for a moment lost in hope and dreams and longing. Then a purple mask appeared on her face. “ _What do you think you are doing, firing at Ladybug before you get her earrings, you incompetent girl!_ ”

“I-I was just--” Reflekta tried to respond.

“ _Silence! Get me those Miraculous now! Quit dawdling!_ ” Papillon raged, fists flailing and stamping his foot in frustration.

It was then everything turned black, and a moment later Ladybug pressed the button to take a picture. Reflekta flinched back from the light, trying to shield her eyes, before making a blind grab in Ladybug's general direction. “Smile for the camera, Reflekta!” Ladybug's voice called from the left, followed by another flash in that direction. The akuma stumbled about, flash after flash of her moving target dancing around the increasingly disoriented akuma. 

She stepped on something small and slick that slid under her foot and caused her to fall to the ground. In the next flash, she saw just enough to make out a line of bright yellow. It was those damned star-shaped sunglasses again! Stupid annoying cat! The next flash that went off, she lunged for it, managing to close her hand around the camera and point it down towards the ground so it would stop blinding her. A hand came to the top of hers, fumbling and tugging at it to get the camera out of her grasp, while her other hand reached up to try and grab the earrings. Only, her hand instead came into contact with a hard, plasticy material. 

“Whoops, wrong one!” Chat's voice said from right in front of her, the laughing lilt to his tone all she needed to hear to know he was being oh-so-smug again. But before she could do anything beyond let out a shrill of frustration, he called aloud, “Milady, I've got it!” A moment later, the lights came back on and Chat Noir threw something small over to Ladybug. 

She caught it in her fist and smashed it against the ground, a moment later a little black butterfly materialized out of the crushed jewel. “You've done enough harm, little akuma. I free you from evil!” As she caught and released the butterfly, Chat hobbled over, thoroughly done with platform shoes for now. Ladybug took back her charm with a smile, “Thanks, Chat Noir. Miraculous Ladybug!” 

As the swarm spiralled down around him, Chat looked at himself in appreciation. “So good to be back in black! I really do purrfer this look to any other.”

Ladybug sighed in relief. “You were awesome, Chat Noir.”

“And I did all that wearing high heels!” he bragged, reaching up carefully to untie the scarf secured around his neck without letting his claws damage it. “Oh, speaking of which, those things should be forbidden!” Ladybug just laughed in response.

Juleka's brown eyes were wide as she looked at the two Heroes of Paris suddenly standing before her, in a place she had no idea how she got to. “I-I... what did I do? I didn't hurt anyone, did I?”

“You made the city wear high heels!” Chat informed helpfully. “By the way, love the dress! Look, Milady, we match!” Chat said, winking at Juleka conspiratorially, no one noticing as he folded up the scarf and quietly tucked it away in one of his pockets. 

Ladybug rolled her eyes at Chat's incessant flirting even as Juleka blushed shyly at the attention. “Oh, that reminds me! One more thing!” Ladybug suddenly said, turning to Juleka and hesitating. “Erm, how exactly... Shoot, Tikki, explain things better, would you!” she grumbled to her self as she looked Juleka over and fiddled with her yo-yo some. After a few seconds, she managed to get it to open to the same glowing white light that it did when she caught an akuma. She then eyed Juleka skeptically for a moment before shrugging and just pointing the white light at her classmate. “Here goes nothing... I free you from evil!”

A bright beam of white light shot out, bathing the goth girl in it's radiance as a shadow seemed to form over her shoulders. As the light continued to glow down on the teen, the shadow pulled further and further away, tearing off of her like something sticky being peeled off a solid surface. Finally the last strings plucked loose and the shadowy thing was swallowed by the light. When it was finished, the yo-yo snapped shut all on it's own.

“There! One photo curse, cured!” Ladybug announced proudly. Juleka's jaw dropped, Chat beamed at her, and suddenly Ladybug's earrings gave off a loud insistent beeping. “Oh! I have to go!” she yelped, and started running for the door, before pausing and turning and running back to Chat Noir. She grabbed his wrist, lifted it up, and quickly tapped her knuckles against his half-closed hand with a fast “Bien joué!” before dropping it and scampering off again.

Chat blinked at her red, spotted back, echoed out his own cheer at her retreating figure, and then turned to the goth teen. “So... wanna lift back to your collège? We can take the fun, rooftop route!”

Juleka grinned. “So cool...”

~*~

Marinette was still tucking Tikki back into her purse as she came out of the stairwell leading to the roof and approached where Chloé and Sabrina were standing before the principal and photographer. “...eleting it! If Sabrina and I hadn't saved it, who knows what Dupain-Cheng would have done to it!”

“Excuse you! You can't just go claiming things about other people without any proof to back it up!” Marinette loudly argued as she stomped over to get in Chloé's face a moment. 

“Mlle Dupain-Cheng...” M Damocles began.

Marinette turned to the principal with determination in her eyes. “It's true I went to your office while you were out, Monsieur, but my _only_ purpose for being there was to try and appeal to you again about retaking the picture!” Here, she turned her full attention on the photographer. “I knew for a fact that I was in a horrible pose when the picture was taken, and when I double checked it, sure enough, not only was I in a horrible pose, but Chloé there had left the spot you told her to stand in and was messing with Adrien, too! The whole composition of the photo you were working so hard to make was ruined, thanks to a certain spoiled brat who refused to stay in the back row...” she said the last part glaring over at Chloé.

“Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!” Chloé huffed.

“Oh? You wanna bet? There's photographic evidence of it, right there in Sabrina's hands! You sent Sabrina to go lock poor Juleka in the toilet, and then you took advantage of the fact she was missing to steal her spot in the picture right next to Adrien! It's your fault she got akumatized!” the blunette accused.

“It's not _my_ fault the photographer couldn't tell where I belonged, and it's that grungy little waste of space's fault that she ran off to go skip or whatever instead of coming back from the washroom like she was supposed to!” Chloé countered.

Marinette gritted her teeth and prepared a retort, but was interrupted by a sudden commotion in the middle of the courtyard. Turning to see what was going on, they watched as Chat Noir touched down in the middle of everyone, carrying a widely grinning Juleka. Her eyes sparkled so brightly as Chat said something they couldn't make out from this distance, gave a two-fingered salute, and then vaulted away again.

Before the fight could break out between the two girls again, the photographer spoke up. “I think it is high time my memory card is returned to me.”

Sabrina obediently handed it over, and the photographer put it back in his camera and looked at the shot in question. “My Lord! That does look awful! Surely retaking such a picture...”

“The school does not have the funds to pay you overtime to take another photo,” M Damocles stated.

“Well, surely M Agreste wouldn't be pleased to have such an ugly picture circulate of his son,” Marinette tried to reason with the man, using Chloé's tactics of namedropping rich, important people. “Adrien _is_ the face of his brand, after all...”

“Agreste? You mean like the Gabriel brand?” the photographer verified.

As Marinette nodded her affirmation, and the photographer pulled out his iphone to compare blond teenaged boys, the principal refused to budge. “Mademoiselle, the simple fact of the matter is I have been standing for photos the whole day, and there are still many other classes that have yet to have their photos taken at all. I am very sorry your little friend missed the picture, but she had been instructed not to move, and the collège budget will not cover the extra costs for a re-shoot.”

“While I wouldn't mind staying a little over for the sake of the art, I don't have the resources to develop the extra shot if I'm not getting paid for it. I'm sorry,” the photographer lamented.

Marinette's face fell at that, losing the last of her hope, when a new voice piped up behind her. “Well, then what if I paid for it?” Adrien asked, stepping up to them. “I have about fifteen minutes free after school before I'll be expected anywhere, and I'd love some pictures with all of my new friends.”

“Would your father be seeing the pictures?” the photographer asked, eyes lighting up at the possibility of getting his foot in the door with a big-name company like Gabriel.

“Probably,” Adrien acknowledged.

“Oh! If it's just pictures with your friends, does that mean it doesn't have to be exclusive to your class?” Aurore pressed, stepping up to the supermodel's side hopefully.

“Well, I don't see why not,” Adrien said, then turned to Marinette. “What do you say, Miss Class President?”

“Ooh...” the blunette let out breathily, her knees weak at his prince charming-esque rescue. She then squeaked and pulled herself together. “You're fine! I-I mean, it's fine! Not that you're not fine, you're wonderful, but the idea's fine, too, and I mean, so long as Juleka is invited, I don't think it really martyrs! Everyone is fine! Well, that's not good! It's not good, it's a good idea, but if the Greeks ask, I think they're not married! I try to talk, if you want to talk, you are the one playing after all! No! Not playing! You're totally not a player or anything! That's not what I was trying to say! I meant money! You're the one giving the monkey! I--” Marinette put her face in her hands and let out a somewhat muffled, “Oh god, please just ignore me?”

Adrien just smiled with patient encouragement and a complete lack of understanding.

~*~

So that was how it came to pass that after school, the class plus a few extras from the rest of the school came to be gathered for an impromptu photo shoot in the park beside the bakery. Juleka beamed so brightly as everyone gathered around her, she was a primary centrepiece in almost every shot. Pictures of the whole group, pictures of smaller friend groups, even a few pictures of Adrien and his fangirls. 

As they were taking a photo of all of the boys—plus Alix because she was Alix—posing in various strong-man poses together while the other girls all stood round to watch, and in Alya's case wolf-whistle teasingly, Rose took the chance to give Juleka a one-armed hug. “See? Didn't I tell you? Marinette wouldn't let us down...”

“Yeah... Something gives me the feeling, with a friend like her, this is going to be an awesome year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have a method for writing Marinette rambles. First, I write what I want her to say, as in, what she's actually trying to say to Adrien, then I take that, change a word or two, and then run the whole thing through a dozen or so random languages on online translators like Google Translate, or Bing Translate until I finally bring it back to English. Then I work the garbled mess I get back into what I wanted her to say and there you have it. As such, I have no idea why she started randomly rambling about Greeks and marriage in the middle of everything. Probably something to do with the fact I changed "matters" into "martyrs", and the fact that when I changed scripts off of the English alphabet it ate Juleka's name, but there you have it.
> 
> A number of other threads that I cut from this chapter include Alya complaining about how she was transformed early on because she didn't run for safety and thus missed filming the whole of the fight, Marinette realizing much later on that Chat Noir never gave her back her scarf, and Adrien having a freak-out at Plagg about needing somewhere to hide Ladybug's scarf so he can keep it as a memento of her without it being found by any of the staff that regularly search his room to clean it and resulting in his father confiscating it and potentially identifying him as Chat Noir. The ending happened so naturally where it was that I was really hesitant to try and tag on an extra few scenes afterwards, and it would have probably pushed the word-count up into the 25k+ territory if I had tried. 
> 
> Seeing as people have complained in the past as to how long these chapters are, I was hesitant to push them much further just for the spotlight, but I may circle back around and have someone mention something about them in later chapters. Not sure yet.


End file.
